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JOHN 

OR 

OUR  CHINESE  EELATIONS 
Bv   THOMAS  W.  KNOX 


} 


i""!     5 


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JOHN 


OUR  CHINESE  RELATIONS 


A  STUDY  OF  OUR  EMIGRATION 

AND  COMMERCIAL  INTERCOURSE  WITH 

THE  CELESTIAL  EMPIRE 


Br  THOMAS  W.  KNOX 

AUinOR  OP  "OTERLAXD  THROCGH  ASIA"   "BACKSHEESH' 
"  UXDERGROUXD  "   ETC. 


NEW  YORK 

HARPER    &    BROTHERS,   PUBLISHERS 

FRAXKLIN    SQCARE 

1879 


X4 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1879,  by 

IlAUPEK  &  BKOTIIEUS, 

In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Waslilngton. 


CONTENTS. 


Page 

I.  Early  Intercourse  with  China..  11 

II.  Treaty-making 22 

III.  Anglo-Chinese  Language 32 

IV.  The  Comprador 44 

V.  Chinese  Progress  in  Commercial 

Knowledge 53 

VI.  Establishment    of   Chinese   Mer- 
chants in  Foreign  Countries..  G1 

VII.  Statistics  of  Chinese  Trade 71 

VIII.  Something    for    American    Mer- 
chants    81 

IX.  Steam  Communication  with  Chi- 
na   8  r 

X.  A  Voyage  over  the  Pacific 92 

XL  Sights  in  Canton 108 


234G51 


JOHN; 

OR, 

OUR  CHINESE  RELATIONS. 


I. 

EARLY  mXERCOURSE  WITH  CHINA. 

The  historian  records  that  Arietta's  pret- 
ty feet,  twinkling  in  the  brook,  attracted 
the  attention  of  the  Duke  of  Normandy, 
and  made  her  the  mother  of  William  the 
Conqueror.  To  the  daughter  of  the  tanner 
of  Falaise  we  owe  the  Norman  invasion 
of  England,  the  establishment  of  consti- 
tutional government,  the  foundation  and 
spread  of  the  world-circling  British  empire. 
By  a  similar  line  of  reasoning,  we  owe  all 
that  we  possess  to-day,  as  a  nation,  to  the 
moon-eyed  Celestials  who  a  century  ago 
cultivated  the  tea-plant  on  the  sloping  hill- 


13  JOHN. 

sides  of  antipodal  China.  From  China 
came  tea;  from  tea  came  the  odious  tea- 
tax  which  was  levied  by  England  upon  her 
American  colonies ,  from  the  tea-tax  came 
the  historic  "  Boston  Tea-party  ;"  from  the 
Boston  Tea-party  and  other  defiant  inci- 
dents came  the  war  of  the  Revolution ; 
from  the  war  came  our  independence ;  from 
our  independence  came  the  present  great- 
ness and  glory  of  the  nation  known  as  the 
United  States.  If  the  eagle  on  our  nation- 
al coat  of  arms  should  desire  a  resting- 
place  for  his  feet,  a  tea-chest  might  form  a 
pedestal  not  altogether  inappropriate. 

Down  to  the  time  of  the  Revolution, 
nearly  all  cargoes  of  tea  destined  for  the 
American  colonies  were  brought  by  way  of 
England.  The  prohibition  of  direct  im- 
portation was  an  important  factor  in  our 
troubles  with  the  mother-country,  particu- 
larly as  the  indirect  transit  compelled  the 
payment  of  a  heavy  tax.  After  the  war  we 
could  import  as  we  chose ;  the  trade  was 
carried  on  in  English  ships,  and  it  was  not 


EARLY   nsTERCOrRSE   WITH   CtHNA.      13 

until  1786  that  a  vessel  fljing  the  Ameri- 
can flag  sailed  from  American  shores  for 
China.  Salem  was  her  port  of  departure, 
and  she  was  the  pioneer  in  a  commerce 
that  subsequently  assumed  enormous  pro- 
portions, and  made  fortunes  for  hundreds 
of  merchants  in  "the  Chinese  trade."  The 
experiment  succeeded,  and  the  venture  was 
rapidly  followed  by  others,  so  that  early  in 
the  present  century  we  had  a  considerable 
business  with  China.  Salem  was  the  first 
in  the  field,  then  came  Boston,  and  later  it 
was  entered  by  Kew  York.  Who  hears  of 
Salem  now  as  a  centre  of  foreign  trade? 
Her  commerce  is  gone,  and  has  left  few  ves- 
tiges beyond  the  fortunes  which  still  re- 
main m  some  of  her  families,  and  the  spa- 
cious dwellings  and  warehouses  erected  in 
the  early  days.  To-day  Salem  is  a  peace- 
ful, prosperous  town  of  Massachusetts,  with 
none  of  the  characteristics  of  a  bustling 
entrepot  or  crowded  mart.  Long  before 
her  ships  went  to  China  she  obtained  an 
uncomfortable    noteriety  for  her   coniiec- 


14  JOHN. 

tion  with  uncanny  matters ;  and  the  Salem 
witchcraft  bids  ialr  to  be  remembered  in 
history  when  Salem  commerce  is  forgot- 
ten. "The  evil  that  men  do  lives  after 
them ;  the  good  is  oft  interred  with  their 
bones." 

Wonderful  were  the  stories  wdiich  the 
captains  and  sailors  told  on  their  return 
from  the  East,  in  the  early  days  of  the  Chi- 
na trade.  The  fictions  of  the  old  chronicles 
were  not  altogether  out  of  fashion,  and  their 
traces,  as  the  chemists  would  say,  are  found 
at  the  present  time  in  some  of  the  traveller's 
tales  that  are  told.  Sir  John  Mandeville 
seems  to  have  left  his  mantle  lying  around 
loose  somewhere,  and  many  of  those  who 
follow  in  his  footsteps  have  tried  it  on.  This 
veracious  old  chronicler  visited  the  East 
more  than  five  hundred  years  ago,  and  on 
his  return  he  wrote  an  account  of  his  trav- 
els, for  the  reason,  as  he  says  in  his  prefiice, 
"  that  if  my  memory  should  be  found  defec- 
tive, other  noble  and  worthy  men  may  re- 
dress and  amend  it."     In  speaking  of  Chi- 


EARLY   INTERCOURSE   WITH  CHINA.      15 

na,  which  was  then  known  as  Cathaj^,  he 
says,  "  The  greatest  river  of  fresh  water  in 
the  world  is  in  that  country,  and  where  it 
is  narrowest  it  is  more  than  four  miles 
broad ;  it  goes  through  the  land  of  pygmies, 
where  the  people  are  small,  being  only  three 
spans  long.  They  are  frequently  at  war 
with  the  birds  of  the  country,  which  they 
kill  and  eat,  and  sometimes  the  birds  kill 
and  eat  them.  In  the  palace  of  the  em- 
peror all  the  dishes  used  upon  the  table 
are  of  precious  stones,  either  of  jasper,  or 
of  crystal,  or  of  fine  gold .  Vessels  of  silver 
are  unknown,  for  they  set  no  value  on  that 
metal,  but  they  make  of  it  steps  and  pillars 
and  i^avements  to  halls  and  rooms."  He 
says  that  in  India  diamonds  grow  upon 
rocks  in  the  sea  and  in  the  mines ;  "  they 
grow  two  together  of  opposite  sexes,  and  I 
have  often,"  he  saj's,  "tried  the  experiment 
of  raising  young  diamonds  from  a  pair  of 
old  ones,  just  as  one  in  this  country  might 
raise  lambs  from  a  pair  of  sheep." 

^Ye  pause   a  moment   to   take   breath. 


16  JOHN. 

Peace  to  the  aslics  of  this  champion  of  con- 
spicuous inaccuracy ! 

There  are  little  grains  of  truth  in  tliis 
story  of  Sir  John  Mandeville.  When  he 
says  that  silver  was  used  for  steps  and  pil- 
lars for  halls  and  rooms  he  was  not  abso- 
hitcly  wrong,  as  that  metal  was  thus  em- 
ployed in  olden  time  in  the  construction 
of  certain  parts  of  the  imperial  palace.  In 
some  of  the  guild-halls  in  the  Chinese  cit- 
ies to-day  the  ceiling  is  of  silver,  and  a 
good  many  statues  and  other  ornaments 
are  of  that  valuable  metal.  But  the  Chi- 
nese are  a  practical  people,  and  every  cen- 
tury and  decade  they  are  more  and  more 
using  bronze  in  place  of  silver  for  purely 
ornamental  work.  China  absorbs  annually 
a  large  amount  of  silver,  and  the  balance  of 
trade  is  so  much  in  her  favor  that  she  has 
no  difficulty  in  finding  all  she  wants.  The 
reference  to  the  greatest  river  of  fresh  wa- 
ter in  the  world  is  doubtless  to  the  Yang- 
Tse ;  and,  when  Sir  John  was  writing,  the 
Yang-Tsc  was  certainly  the  largest  known 


EARLY   mTEKCOURSE   WITH   CHINA.     17 

stream  on  the  globe.  America  was  undis- 
covered, and  consequently  Europe  knew 
nothing  of  the  Amazon  and  the  Mississippi. 
A  wise  man  once  declared  that  it  was  an 
excellent  provision  of  Providence  to  make 
great  rivers  run  by  large  cities ,  he  might 
have  mentioned  another  curiosity  of  nature,, 
that  the  cities  at  the  mouths  of  great  rivers, 
are  generally  seaports.  The  rivers  and  sea- 
ports of  China  have  been  very  useful  to 
commerce  and  greatly  facilitated  the  work 
of  extending  trade  to  foreign  countries.. 
The  Yang-Tse,  the  great  river  of  Far  Cath- 
ay, has  proved  a  magnificent  water-way,  and. 
enabled  the  foreigner  to  carry  his  flag  into 
the  heart  of  the  empire,  American  and 
English  steamers  stem  its  muddy  current, 
and  find  it  without  a  rival  save  in  the 
western  hemisphere.  It  was  my  fortune  to 
ascend  it  six  hundred  miles  from  the  sea ; 
at  that  point  it  was  like  the  Mississippi  at 
^Memphis  or  Cairo,  and  I  know  of  no  other 
stream  in  the  world  which  can  begin  to  ri- 
val it  in  the  volume  of  its  commerce.  To 
o 


18  JOHN. 

pass  a  fleet  of  boats  was  an  liourly  occur-, 
lence  for  our  steamer,  and  sometimes  even 
more  frequent  than  this.  At  all  the  cities 
there  were  long  rows  of  these  craft  tied  to 
the  banks;  and  at  Hankow,  the  jn-esent 
head  of  steam  navigation,  I  think  I  am  safe 
in  saying  tliere  were  thousands  of  boats, 
and  the  most  of  them  were  of  no  diminu- 
tive size.  I  know  of  nothing  better  than  a 
voyage  on  the  Yang-Tsc  to  impress  a  stran- 
ger with  the  great  commercial  importance 
of  China. 

Down  to  the  early  part  of  this  century, 
and  later,  China  had  maintained  a  position 
of  comparative  exclusiveness.  "With  the  ex- 
ception of  Canton,  her  ports  were  closed 
to  the  rest  of  the  world,  and  even  at  that 
famous  city  the  traflic  was  confined  to  a 
locality  outside  the  municipal  limits.  The 
foreign  merchants  lived  there,  and  thither 
went  the  Chinese  merchants  to  exchange 
tea  and  silks  for  such  produce  of  other 
hinds  as  was  useful  to  their  countrymen. 
The  balance  of  trade  was  largely  in  favor 


EARLY  IXTERCOUESE  WITH   CHINA.      19 

of  China,  and  this  balance  was  paid  in  sil- 
ver, to  the  delight  of  John  and  the  propor- 
tionate disgust  of  the  foreigner. 

In  course  of  time  a  way  was  found  for 
equalizing  the  balance  by  means  of  opium, 
which  was  raised  in  enormous  quantities  in 
India.  The  Chinese  were  great  consumers 
of  the  drug,  and  the  English  in  India  were 
great  j)roducers ;  nothing  was  more  natu- 
ral than  that  the  producer  should  attemj)t 
to  supply  the  consumer.  Chinese  laws 
stood  in  the  way,  as  the  government  had 
i:)rohibited  the  importation  of  the  drug 
which  was  killing  many  thousands  of  its 
people  annually,  and  bringing  sorrow  and 
degradation  to  flimilies  all  over  the  land. 
Though  femous  for  their  respect  for  laws 
at  home,  the  English  have  little  regard  for 
those  of  other  lands  when  they  stand  in  the 
way  of  English  commerce.  India  was  a 
ruinous  expense  unless  a  market  could  be 
found  for  her  opium.  An  English  mer- 
chant in  Hong-Kong  said  to  me  on  this 
subject:   "It  was  absolutely  necessary  to 


20  JOHN. 

open  the  Chinese  market  to  save  India 
from  ruin,  and  we  could  not  possibly  allow 
the  Chinese  to  refuse."  One  is  reminded  of 
the  countrj'  boy  who  was  trying  with  a  hoe 
to  dig  a  woodchuck  from  a  lodge  of  rocks. 
When  told  that  it  was  impossible  to  accom- 
plish his  purpose  with  that  implement,  he 
replied :  "  'Tain't  no  use  talking ;  I  must  dig 
him  out,for  there  ain't  no  meat  in  the  house." 

Opium-smuggling  became  a  regular  and 
honest  employment  among  Englishmen, 
and  not  infrequently  there  were  Americans 
with  a  hand  in  the  business.  The  history 
of  this  curious  jjhase  of  commerce  would  fill 
many  a  volume,  as  it  extended  over  a  con- 
siderable  period,  and  covered  amounts  of 
an  enormous  aggregate.  The  boldness  of 
the  smugglers  and  the  magnitude  of  their 
operations  caused  many  remonstrances  on 
the  part  of  the  Chinese  government,  and 
finally  led  to  the  seizure  of  a  large  quantity 
of  opium  and  its  subsequent  destruction. 

Out  of  this  affair  grew  the  famous  (or  in- 
famous) "  Opium  War,"  in  which  China  was 


EAPvLY  INTEPvCOURSE  AVITH   CHES^A.      21 

humbled,  compelled  to  pay  heavy  damages, 
open  other  ports  than  Canton,  and  cede  the 
island  of  Hong-Kong  to  England.  The  lat- 
ter made  Hong-Kong  a  free  port,  and  since 
its  settlement  it  has  prospered  commercial- 
ly, less  to  the  advantage  of  China  than  to 
the  country  that  owns  it.  The  Chinese  au- 
thorities pronounce  it  a  nest  of  smugglers, 
and  declare  that  but  for  Hong-Kong  the 
customs  dues  of  the  empire  would  be  in- 
creased by  many  thousand  pounds  every 
year.  Tliis  is  undoubtedly  true  ;  but,  in  jus- 
tice to  Hong-Kong,  it  should  be  stated  that 
the  smuggling  is  performed  by  the  Chinese, 
and  not  by  the  English.  The  junks  and  oth- 
er craft  go  to  Hong-Kong,  where  they  buy 
and  receive  their  cargoes  ;  then,  at  a  favor- 
able opportunity,  they  run  to  the  mainland, 
often  by  connivance  of  their  own  officials, 
and  land  their  goods  at  obscure  points.  The 
craft  are  owmed  and  manned  by  Chinese, 
and  the  goods  are  under  the  same  proprie- 
torship. Sometimes  a  junk  may  have  a 
Portuguese  captain,  but  rarely  indeed  is  she 
commanded  bv  an  Eno-lishman. 


JO  UN. 


11. 
TREATY-MAKING. 


TnE  Oi^ium  War  was  followed  by  other 
wars,  and  notably  tliose  of  1858  and  1860. 
The  United  States  had  a  little  hand  in  these 
matters,  and  we  all  know  about  Commodore 
Tatnall  going  to  the  relief  of  the  British 
fleet  at  the  Peiho,  with  the  remark,  which 
has  since  gained  a  world-wide  fame, "  Blood 
is  thicker  than  water."  Out  of  the  various 
wars  grew  the  English,  French,  Russian, 
and  American  treaties  with  China — treaties 
whose  signature  was  virtually  made  at  the 
cannon's  mouth.  An  English  artist  once 
made  a  caricature  of  this  treaty-making 
business,  in  which  he  represented  a  China- 
man affixing  his  signature  to  a  document, 
while  over  him  stood  persons  representing 
each  of  the  al)ove-named  powers;  the  four 
were  holding  pistols  at  tlie  head  of  the  un- 


TREATY-MAKING.  23 

fortunate  Celestial,  and  behind  him  were  the 
muzzle  of  a  cannon  and  a  whole  armful  of 
bayonets.  The  picture  was  entitled  "  A 
Voluntary  Act — China  wishes  to  become 
one  in  the  family  of  nations." 

The  terms  of  the  treaty  between  Great 
Britain  and  China  permitted  the  subjects  of 
her  Majesty  the  Queen  of  England  to  trade 
in  China  and  to  reside  there,  and  it  gave  in 
return  full  permission  for  the  subjects  of  his 
Majesty  the  Emperor  of  China  to  trade  and 
reside  in  the  Bi'itisli  dominions  everywhere. 
Many  had  already  gone  tliere,  and  also  to 
California,  and  their  action  v/as  fully  legal- 
ized by  the  treaty.  The  treaties  with  the 
other  powers  were  substantially  the  same. 
I  was  told  in  China  that  the  clause  permit- 
ting the  Chinese  to  go  to  other  countries 
was  not  asked  for,  or  even  suggested,  by  the 
Chinese  ambassador,  but  was  inserted  by  the 
English  envoy,  and  afterwards  by  the  repre- 
sentatives of  other  powers,  merely  to  make 
an  appearance  of  fairness,  and  to  round  up 
a  i^aragraph. 


24  JOHN. 

I  do  not  voiicli  for  the 
as  it  came  to  me  on  hearsay  evidence  only, 
and  I  do  not  know  any  way  of  confirming  or 
disproving  it.  Be  that  as  it  may,  the  treaty 
as  a  whole  was  forced  upon  China  quite  in 
the  manner  depicted  by  the  artist,  and  was 
no  doubt  as  difficult  for  her  to  swallow  as 
had  been  the  ojDium  pills  hitherto  crowded 
down  her  throat.  And  it  is  in  consequence 
of  that  very  treaty  and  its  operations  that 
the  people  of  the  Pacific -coast  States  are 
now  complaining  of  the  hordes  of  Chinese 
on  their  soil,  praying  their  authorities  to 
remove  the  incubus  of  cheap  labor,  and  oc- 
casionally rising  into  open  defiance  of  law 
and  order. 

There  is  no  use  in  denying  that  we  are 
in  an  awkward  position  in  the  matter. 
Our  case  is  like  that  of  a  man  who  entered 
an  Arkansas  village  and  declared  that  he 
"  was  spoiling  for  a  fight."  He  roamed  up 
and  down  the  street,  and  at  last  found  a 
villager  who  was  willing  to  liave  a  brush 
with  him  for  the  sake  of  better  acquaintance. 


TREATY-MAKING.  25 

Half  an  hour  later  the  stranger  limped  fjom 
the  village  much  battered  as  to  visage, 
rent  and  soiled  as  to  garments,  and  lisping 
through  the  crevices  of  his  freshly  broken 
teeth,  "  Seems  to  me  I  was  a  leetle  too  peart 
with  my  tongue,  and  can't  blame  that  villa- 
ger for  licking  of  me." 

For  a  period  whose  limits  one  cannot 
define  with  exactness,  the  so-called  "Chi- 
nese question  "  has  been  a  theme  of  impor- 
tance. It  is  not  by  any  means  confined  to 
the  United  States;  in  xVustralia  and  other 
British  possessions,  in  South  America,  in 
Java,  and  in  Japan  even,  the  advent  of  John 
has  led  to  discussions  interminable,  and 
^n'omises  to  lead  to  interminable  discussions 
more.  The  coming  of  the  industrious  and 
frugal  Chinaman  has  troubled  many  lands 
and  people,  and  caused  a  derangement  of 
the  system  of  local  labor  to  an  extent  which 
many  persons  consider  alarming.  Prohib- 
itory laws  have  been  passed  in  some  in- 
stances, and  heavy  taxes  levied  in  the  hope 
of  restraining  the  immigration ;  the  taxes 


26  joiix. 

are  paid  and  the  immigration  goes  on, 
perhaps  in  less  degree,  but  certainly  it  lias 
been  in  no  instance  altogether  suspended. 

In  California  and  Australia  the  people 
have  defied  law  and  risen  in  open  vio- 
leuce  against  the  obnoxious  race.  The  mobs 
have  been  suppressed,  but  not  without  loss 
of  life.  In  some  of  the  conflicts  between 
tlie  races,  John  has  shown  that  he  can 
"  strike  back,"  and  all  the  injury  to  life 
and  limb  has  not  been  on  the  side  of  the 
party  attacked.  The  growing  frequency  of 
these  disturbances  calls  for  an  earnest  in- 
tervention of  the  strong  arm  of  the  govern- 
ment, and  an  intervention  in  a  twofold 
sense.  The  condition  of  the  labor  market 
in  California  and  the  temper  of  the  great 
majority  of  the  jicople  demand  a  check  to 
tlie  immigration  of  Chinese.  The  rights 
guaranteed  to  every  man  dwelling  beneath 
our  flag  require  that  government  should 
protect  all  who  have  violated  no  law  and 
are  rightfully  and  properly  on  our  soil. 

Most  of  the  treaties  have  been  revised, 


TREATY-MAKING.  27 

but  only  in  some  of  tlieir  minor  points ;  the 
trade  and  emigration  clause  remains  im- 
changed,  and  Chinese  are  at  liberty  to  go 
to  other  countries,  just  as  the  subjects  or 
citizens  of  those  countries  have  a  light  to 
go  to  China.  It  is  upon  this  point  that  a 
change  is  needed;  and  when  the  treaties 
next  come  up  for  revision,  it  will  doubtless 
be  brought  under  consideration.  It  has 
been  frequently  discussed  by  the  foreign 
ambassadors  and  the  Chinese  Minister  of 
Foreign  Affairs,  and  its  importance  is  con- 
ceded by  all.  The  Chinese  expressed  a  will- 
ingness to  revise  the  treaty  and  recall  all 
their  subjects,  but  what  they  will  demand 
in  return  it  is  difficult  to  say.  They  see  the 
dilemma  in  which  the  treaty  powers  are 
placed,  and  it  is  quite  likely  they  will  make 
the  most  of  the  situation,  and  secure  impor- 
tant advantages  for  themselves.  There  is 
no  doubt  they  would  be  glad  to  return  to 
something  like  their  former  isolation,  and, 
above  all,  to  send  the  foreigner,  bag  and 
baggage,  out  of  their  country. 


28  JOHN. 

From  all  I  have  heard,  both  from  natives 
and  foreigners,  I  am  sure  they  would  will- 
ingly tear  up  their  treaties  with  us,  recall 
their  own  people  from  other  lands,  and  per- 
mit no  more  emigration,  and  pay  every  for- 
eigner now  living  in  China  the  full  value 
of  his  property  there,  and  give  him  free  j^as- 
sage  to  his  home.  Of  course  there  are  many 
exceptions,  but  it  may  be  set  down  as  a  rule 
that  the  Chinese  detest  the  foreigner,  and 
only  tolerate  him  because  they  must.  Tlie 
feeling  pervades  all  classes  of  the  people, 
and  not  only  the  people,  but  the  lower  ani- 
mals. Chinese  ponies  snort  and  start  when 
you  come  near  them,  the  dogs  bark  at  you, 
the  cats  snarl  and  flee  with  enlarged  tails 
and  elevated  back-hair,  and  even  the  meek 
and  ruminant  cow  takes  a  shy  at  you  with 
her  horns. 

On  this  latter  point  I  could  relate  a  har- 
rowing tale  of  how  a  friend  and  myself  were 
pursued  by  an  infuriated  cow  in  a  Chinese 
city,  and  how  she  would  not  be  turned  from 
her  purpose,  but  kept  after  us  for  some  ten 


TREATY-MAKING.  29 

minutes  or  more.  My  friend  ran  swiftly, 
uud  kept  a  little  ahead  of  the  beast ;  of 
course  I  wouldn't  be  so  undignified  as  to 
run  from  a  cow,  but  I  managed  to  keep  at 
the  side  of  my  fleet  friend,  and  came  out 
a  trifle  in  advance  of  him.  We  furnished 
free  amusement  to  a  crowd  of  Chinese,  who 
looked  and  laughed,  thinking  it  was  capi- 
tal fun  to  see  a  couple  of  barbarians  pur- 
sued by  a  Chinese  cow,  and  never  stopping 
to  consider  how  the  barbarians  might  like  it. 
But  the  tables  are  turned,  and  more  than 
turned,  in  San  Francisco  and  Melbourne, 
where  the  white  man  has  a  great  deal  of 
sport  at  Chinese  expense.  In  each  of  those 
cities  it  is  not  unusual  to  see  a  large  dog 
pursuing  a  frightened  Celestial,  amid  the 
jeers  of  a  group  of  voters  who  have  set 
the  brute  to  his  work. 

There  are  those  who  fear  that  the  Chi- 
nese, unless  restrained,  will  overrun  Ameri- 
ca, take  control  of  the  labor  market,  and 
ultimately  secure  the  monopoly  of  many 
branches  of  commercial  enterprise.     Some 


30  JOHN. 

of  these  are  alarmists,  and  see  great  calam- 
ities in  the  immediate  future,  and  some  are 
demagogues,  who  talk  what  they  do  not  be- 
lieve, because  it  is  for  their  political  inter- 
est to  do  so.  But  there  are  others  who 
judge  the  future  by  the  past,  and  have  giv- 
en careful  study  to  the  question ;  they  be- 
lieve that  the  present  evil  will  go  on  increas- 
ing steadily,  but  not  rapidly ;  and  while 
there  is  no  immediate  danger  to  be  feared, 
it  is  well  to  consider  the  distant  future. 

Estimating  the  number  of  Chinese  in  the 
United  States  at  a  quarter  of  a  million,  and 
our  whole  population  at  a  round  forty  mill- 
ions, we  can  see  no  immediate  danger  to  our 
prosperity  or  safety.  Our  annual  increase 
is  quite  as  great  as  any  Chinese  immigra- 
tion in  its  most  flourishing  period,  and  there 
is  little  probability  that  their  numerical 
proportions  will  be  larger  than  at  present. 
As  is  well  known,  not  one  emigrant  in  a 
thousand  brings  his  family.  The  American 
consul  at  Hong-Kong  informed  mc  that 
while  nearly  twenty-five  thousand  Chinese 


TREATY-MAKING.  31 

men  went  from  that  port  to  San  Francisco 
in  one  year,  there  were  less  than  two  hun- 
dred women,  and  this  has  been  about  the 
proportion  ever  since  the  emigration  began. 
Of  Chinese  children  born  in  America  there 
are  barely  sufficient  to  fill  an  ordinary 
church,  and  certainly  we  must  be  timid  in- 
deed if  we  have  fears  of  these. 

Diy  np  the  source,  and  the  stream  will 
disappear  in  time.  We  have  only  to  revise 
our  treaties  so  as  to  jDrevent  the  advent  of 
new  immigrants,  and  leave  the  matter  of 
the  return  of  those  now  in  America  quite 
out  of  consideration.  Tempus  edax  rerum 
will  steadily  reduce  the  number  of  those 
who  stay,  and  by  the  beginning  of  the  com- 
ing century  less  than  half  the  present  num- 
ber will  be  alive.  Another  twenty -five 
years  will  make  still  further  havoc,  and 
long  before  the  celebration  of  our  second 
centennial  the  last  Chinese  among  us  will 
have  gone  to  his  grave,  and  left  us  a  free 
and  happy  people. 


JOHN. 


III. 
ANGLO-CHINESE  LANGUAGE. 

To  our  commercial  intercourse  Avitli  Chi- 
na wc  are  indebted  for  the  invention  of 
modern  times  known  as  "  pigeon  Englisli." 
In  attempting  to  pronounce  the  word  "  bus- 
iness," the  Chinese  were  formerly  unable  to 
get  nearer  to  the  real  sound  than  "  pidgin" 
or  "  pigeon ;"  hence  the  adoption  of  that 
word,  which  means  nothing  more  nor  less 
tlian  "  business."  Pigeon  English  is  there- 
fore business  English,  and  is  the  language 
of  commerce  at  the  open  ports  of  China,  or 
wherever  else  the  native  and  foreigner  come 
in  contact.  A  pigeon  French  has  made  its 
appearance  in  Saigon  and  at  other  places, 
and  is  steadily  increasing  as  French  com- 
merce has  increased.  On  the  frontier  line 
between  Ilussia  and  China  there  is  an  im- 
portant trading-jDoint — Kiachta— where  the 


ANGLO-CHINESE   LANGUAGE.  33 

commerce  of  the  two  empires  was  exclusive- 
ly conducted  for  a  century  and  a  half.  In 
18G6  I  visited  Kiaclita,  and  found  that  a 
pigeon  Russian  existed  there,  and  was  the 
medium  of  commercial  transactions  be- 
tween the  Russian  and  Chinese  merchants. 
Long  ago  tlie  Portuguese  at  Macao  had  a 
corresponding  jargon  for  their  intercourse 
with  the  Chinese ;  and  it  may  be  safely  stat- 
ed that  wherever  tlie  Chinese  have  estab- 
lished permanent  relations  with  any  coun- 
try, a  language  of  trade  has  immediately 
sprung  into  existence,  and  is  developed  as 
time  rolls  on  and  its  necessities  multiply. 

The  decline  in  Portuguese  trade  with 
China  was  accompanied  with  a  correspond- 
ing decline  in  the  language,  but  it  left  its 
impress  upon  the  more  recent  pigeon  Eng- 
lish, which  contains  many  Portuguese 
words.  Pigeon  English  is  a  language  by 
itself,  with  very  little  inflection  either  in 
noun,  pronoun,  or  verb,  and  with  a  few 
words  doing  duty  for  many.  The  Chinese 
learn  it  readily,  as  they  have  no  grammati- 
3 


34  JOHN. 

cal  giants  to  wrestle  with  in  mastering  it, 
and  the  foreigners  are  quite  ready  to  meet 
them  on  the  road  and  adapt  their  phrase- 
ology to  its  requirements.  The  Chinese  has 
only  to  commit  to  memory  a  few  hundred 
words  and  know  their  meaning ;  the  for- 
eigner (if  he  be  English-speaking)  has  less 
than  a  hundred  foreign  words  to  learn,  to- 
gether with  the  peculiar  construction  of 
phrases.  The  Chinese  have  printed  vocab- 
ularies in  which  the  foreign  word  and  its 
meaning  are  set  forth  in  Chinese  characters, 
and  thus  tliey  have  no  occasion  to  trouble 
themselves  with  the  alphabet  of  the  stranger. 
These  books  are  specially  intended  for  the 
use  of  compradares  and  servants  in  foreign 
employ,  and  are  so  small  that  they  can  be 
readily  carried  in  the  pocket.  It  is  not  un- 
usual to  see  a  servant  occupying  his  spare 
moments  in  studying  one  of  these  volumes, 
and  I  remember  a  boy  that  waited  on  me 
in  Shanghai  who  used  to  whip  out  his 
book  and  catch  the  intervals  between  the 
various   courses  of  my   dinner.     When  I 


AXGLO-CHINESE  LAIsGUAGE.  35 

called  for  anything,  the  book  disaiDpeared, 
as  if  by  magic,  in  the  folds  of  his  capacious 
sleeve ;  and  the  instant  my  wants  were  sup- 
plied he  resumed  his  studies.  Daily  I  could 
perceive  progress  in  his  lingual  accomplish- 
ments, and  before  the  end  of  a  fortnight  he 
was  ready  to  graduate  with  high  honor.  I 
fear  his  honesty  was  not  equal  to  his  profi- 
ciency, as  I  found  that  my  handkerchiefs 
disajDpeared  mysteriously  while  I  was  in 
his  care,  and  the  confusion  of  tongues  un- 
der which  he  labored  caused  him  to  mis- 
take two  of  my  silver  dollars  for  his  own. 
I  hope  he  used  them  properly,  and  did  not 
waste  them  in  riotous  living. 

In  pigeon  English  the  pronouns  he.,  slie^ 
it,  and  thei/  are  generally  expressed  by  the 
single  pronoun  lie.  All  the  forms  of  the 
first  person  are  included  in  my,  and  those 
of  the  second  person  in  you.  When  we 
come  to  the  verbs,  we  find  that  action,  in- 
tention, existence,  and  kindred  conditions 
are  covered  by  hab,  helongey,  and  can  do.  Va- 
rious forms  of  possession  are  expressed  by 


36  JOHN. 

catcliee  (catch),  ^\'hile  can  do  is  particular!}^ 
applied  to  ability  or  power,  and  is  also  used 
to  imply  affirmation  or  negation.  Thus: 
"  Can  do  walkee  ?"  means  "Are  you  able  to 
walk  ?"  If  so,  the  response  would  be  "  can 
do,"  while  "  no  can  do"  would  imj^ly  inabil- 
ity to  indulge  in  pedestrianism.  Belongey 
comes  from  "belong,"  and  is  often  short- 
ened to  a  single  syllable,  Vlong.  It  is  very 
much  employed,  owing  to  the  many  shades 
of  meaning  of  which  it  is  capable.  Thus : 
"  I  live  in  Hong-Kong"  would  be  rendered 
"  My  belongey  Hong-Kong  side,"  and  "  You 
are  very  large  "  would  be  proj^erly  translat- 
ed "  You  belongey  too  muchee  big  piecee." 
One  day  on  a  steamer,  a  servant  brought  me 
the  captain's  invitation  to  join  him  in  the 
examination  of  a  bottle  of  wine  in  the  cab- 
in. The  message  was  thus  delivered :  "  He 
captain  bottom-side  talkce  you  b'longey 
chop-chop  dlinko  one  piecee  winec."  The 
nearest  literal  rendering  of  the  above  would 
])C,  "  The  captain  is  below,  and  says  you  are 
to  come  immediately  to  drink  one  piece 


AXGLO-CnrXESE  LANGUAGE,  37 

(glass)  of  wine."    I  replied,  "  Can  do,"  and 
the  dialogue  ended. 

The  Chinese  find  great  difficulty  in  pro- 
nouncing r,  which  they  almost  invariably 
convert  into  I.  They  have  a  tendency  to 
add  a  vowel  sound  (o  or  e)  to  words  ending 
with  a  consonant.  Bearing  these  points  in 
mind,  we  readily  see  how  "  drink"  becomes 
dlinJc'O,  and  "brown"  Noicnee.  Final  d  and 
t  are  awkward  for  them  to  handle,  and 
th  is  to  their  lips  an  abomination  of  first- 
class  dimensions.  "Child"  becomes  chilo, 
and  "  cold"  is  transformed  to  coIo,  in  pigeon 
English,  "That,"  and  other  words  begin- 
ning with  th,  generally  lose  the  sound  of  h, 
though  sometimes  they  retain  h  and  drop 
the  t  before  it.  Thus  in  the  preceding 
paragraph  "he  captain"  means  "the  cap- 
tain," and  this  form  of  speaking  is  fre- 
quently encountered.  "Side"  is  used  for 
position,  and  the  vocabulary  contains  in- 
side, outside,  dottom-side  (below),  and  top-side 
(above).  Chop-cliop  means  "  fast,"  "  quick," 
"  immediately ;"  man-man  means  "  slowly," 


284G5I 


33  JOHN. 

"  slower,"  "gently,"  in  the  south  of  China  ; 
while  at  Hankow,  on  the  Yang-Tsc,  it  means 
exactly  the  reverse.  At  Canton  or  Swatow, 
if  you  say  man-man  to  your  boatmen,  they 
will  cease  rowing  or  will  proceed  very  light- 
ly ;  say  the  same  thing  to  your  boatmen  at 
Hankow  or  Ichang,  and  they  will  pull  away 
with  redoubled  energy. 

The  author  of  the  Breitman  ballads  has 
made  an  interesting  little  volume  entitled 
"  Pidgin-English  Sing-Song."  When  I  en- 
tered a  bookstore  in  Shanghai  and  asked 
for  a  vocabulary  of  Chinese,  Mr.  Leland's 
book  was  handed  to  me,  with  tlie  remark 
that  it  was  the  best  thing  of  the  kind  in 
existence.  The  bright-witted  Hans  has 
made  a  series  of  short  poems,  stories,  and 
the  like  in  the  quaint  jargon  of  the  East, 
together  with  a  quantity  of  proverbs  more 
or  less  familiar  to  Occidentals.  As  an  illus- 
tration of  tlie  language,  I  will  quote  a  few 
of  the  "  wise  saws  and  modern  instances  :" 

"  Who  man  swim  best,  t'hat  man  most  a:ettee  dlown  ; 
Who  lidcc  best  be  most  catch  tumble  down." 


AJNGLO-CnrXESE   LANGUAGE.  39 

"  One  piecee  blind  man  healee  best,  maskee ; 
One  piecee  deaf  man  makee  best  look-see." 
"  One  man  who  never  leedee, 
Like  one  dly  inkstand  be ; 
You  turn  he  top-side  downey, 
No  ink  luu  outside  he." 
"Suppose  one  man  much  bad— how  bad  he  be, 
One  uot'her  bad  man  may  be  flaid  of  he." 

One  day  I  ventured  to  put  a  well-known 
rhj'uie  into  pigeon  English,  adhering  as 
closely  as  possible  to  the  construction  of 
the  language,  and  preserving,  at  the  same 
time,  the  measure  of  the  verse.  The  follow- 
ing is  the  result: 

MALY  AND  HE  LITTEE  LAMB. 

Maly  hab  one  piecee  lamb, 

He  wool  all  same  he  snow. 
What  time  he  Maly  b'long  one  side, 

T'hat  lamb  make  all  same  go. 
One  time  he  Maly  b'longey  school, 

And  b'longey  school  t'hat  lamb. 
Larn-pidgiu  chilos  bobbely  make 

Like  poundee  on  tam-tam. 
He  massa  wantchee  lamb  go  home ; 

T'hat  lamb  he  no  can  do. 
.  Bimeby  he  Maly  go  outside, 

And  fiudee  lamb  there  too. 


40  JOHN. 

Time  Maly  come  t'hat  piecee  lamb, 

He  luu  on  Maly  side, 
All  same  chiu-chiD,  "you  my  good  fliu, 

What  man  say  no,  he  lied." 

"What  for  he  lamb  t'hat  muchee  flin  ?" 

lie  littee  chilos  cly. 
"That  Maly  makee  muchee  fliu," 
^       He  massa  talkee,  hi ! 

The  rapid  spread  of  this  language  in  tlie 
last  twenty  years,  by  reason  of  the  large 
emigration  of  the  Chinese  to  other  lands, 
renders  it  worthy  of  serious  consideration. 
One  writer  predicts  that  the  time  is  not  far 
distant  wdien  it  will  be  necessary  to  render 
the  Bible  into  pigeon  English,  and  another 
says  that  if  English  is  to  become  the  cos- 
mopolitan language  of  commerce,  it  will 
have  to  borrow  from  the  Chinese  as  much 
monosyllable  and  as  little  inflection  as  pos- 
sible. A  grammar  of  English  for  the  nse 
of  Orientals  has  been  projected  in  which 
the  plurals  of  nouns  and  the  past  tenses  of 
verbs  should  be  regular,  and  the  auxiliaries 
and  all  other  perjjlexities  of  our  language 
reduced  to  tlie  minhnum.     According  to 


ANGLO-Cni]S'ESE  LANGUAGE.  41 

tliis  plan,  the  plural  of  "  sheep  "  -u-oulcl  be 
slieeps ;  of  "mouse,"  mouses;  and  that  of 
"  man,"  mans.  Among  the  verbs  we  should 
have  go-ecl  in  place  of  "went,"  and  com-ed 
in  place  of  "  came."  The  proposition  will 
doubtless  develop  a  smile  on  the  face  of 
the  reader,  but  it  certainly  contains  matter 
for  serious  consideration. 

Comparatively  few  of  the  foreign  resi- 
dents of  China  take  the  trouble  to  learn 
the  language  of  the  country,  but  content 
themselves  with  the  use  of  pigeon  English 
in  their  transactions  with  the  natives.  In 
Shanghai  I  asked  a  merchant  who  had  been 
twelve  years  in  that  city  the  names  of  the 
Chinese  numerals  from  one  to  ten.  "  I  don't 
know,"  was  his  reply ;  "  I  never  bothered 
myself  to  learn,  as  I  can  get  along  well 
enough  in  pigeon  English."  I  did  not  ex- 
pect him  to  be  able  to  speak  Chinese,  but 
I  certainly  thought  he  should  be  able  to 
count  in  that  tongue. 

Many  of  the  foreigners  in  the  Far  East 
use  occasional  native  words  in  conversation 


42  jonx. 

among  themselves.  This  cusfom  is  not  con- 
fined to  China  and  Japan,  but  prevails  in 
Siam,  Java,  India,  Ceylon,  and,  in  fact,  in 
pretty  nearly  every  country  I  have  visited. 
"  Maskee  ;  come  in,"  said  an  American  mer- 
chant in  Yokohama,  to  whom  I  was  excusing 
myself  from  entering  his  office  by  reason  of 
the  muddiness  of  my  boots.  {Maskee  means 
"  never  mind.")  "  Come  to  tiffin  to-morrow 
at  twelve,"  said  the  same  gentleman — t{fiii 
being  the  word  which  means  "  lunch " 
or  "  mid-day  meal."  It  is  printed  on  the 
bills  of  fire  in  the  hotels,  and  is  written  or 
spoken  twenty  times  where  "  lunch"  is  used 
once.  CumsliaiD  means  "  gift "  or  "  bribe ;" 
sampan  is  a  "  boat,"  and  coolie  is  a  "  laborer." 
All  these  words  and  many  others  have  fair- 
ly driven  their  English  equivalents  quite 
out  of  sight,  or  into  a  retirement  from  which 
they  rarely  emerge.  Some  of  the  words 
and  phrases  in  our  language  come  from  the 
Orient:  cash,  denoting  money,  is  purely 
Chinese,  it  being  {\\c  name  of  the  smallest 
copper  coin  in  the  land  of  the  Celestials. 


AIsGLO-CHENESE   LAIsGUAGE.  43 

"  My  no  catch ee  cash,  my  no  can  play  fan- 
tan."  Fan-tan  is  a  Chinese  game  of  chance ; 
and  as  the  gambler  of  every  country  gen- 
erally insists  upon  ready  money  from  the 
wooers  of  the  fickle  goddess,  the  meaning 
of  the  rest  of  the  sentence  is  obvious.  We 
frequently  hear  a  New  York  or  Boston  shop- 
keeper pronounce  his  goods  "  first  chop," 
and  he  23robably  does  so  without  thinking 
that  he  is  using  Chinese.  Chop  means  la- 
bel, stamp,  or  inscription,  and  first  cho^)  is 
the  superlative  of  excellence  and  good  qual- 
ity. The  Chinese  vocabulary  is  invading 
ours,  just  as  the  people  of  the  Flowery  King- 
dom are  invading  the  United  States  and 
the  English  colonies.  Is  not  this  a  phase 
of  the  Oriental  question  which  demands 
our  attention  ? 


44  joim. 


IV. 

THE  COMPRADOR. 

The  progress  of  the  Chinese  in  tlie  United 
States  in  the  way  of  business  and  commer- 
cial matters  in  general  (not  including  ordi- 
nary labor)  is  not  as  rapid  as  it  has  been  in 
the  Far  East.  When  the  ports  of  the  empire 
were  opened,  and  for  years  afterwards,  busi- 
ness was  in  European*  hands,  and  the  Chi- 
nese mercliant  had  little  to  do  with  it.  The 
foreigner  found  it  convenient  to  employ  a 
Chinese  to  transact  his  business  w^ith  the 
natives,  and  in  time  the  convenience  became 
a  necessity.  The  person  thus  employed  was 
(and  is)  called  a  comprador^  the  name  being 

*  By  the  term  "European"  are  included  all  foreign- 
erf,  whether  from  Europe  or  America.  Japanese,  East 
Iiidiane,  Malaj's,  and  tlic  like  are  usually  grouped  as 
"Asiatics;"  persons  born  in  Asia  of  mixed  parentage 
arc  called  "Eurasians,"  the  name  being  formed  from 
tlie  two  words  Europe  and  Asia. 


THE   COMPKADOR.  45 

borrowed  from  the  Portuguese ;  and  so  im- 
portant did  the  comprador  become  that  the 
merchant  could  not  get  along  without  him. 
He  bought  the  tea,  silk,  porcelain,  and  oth- 
er goods  that  were  wanted  for  export,  and 
he  sold  all  the  imported  articles,  whether 
their  value  was  great  or  small ;  he  managed 
the  insurances  and  shipments  ;  he  employed 
all  the  servants  about  the  establishment,  and 
was  responsible  for  their  honesty  ;  lie  kept 
the  bank  account ;  in  fact,  he  did  so  much 
that  the  wonder  is  the  merchant  could  find 
anytliing  at  all  to  lay  his  hand  to. 

John  Comprador  was  invariably  a  shrewd, 
clear-headed  native,  and  watched  his  mas- 
ter's interest  with  a  careful  eye.  That  he 
looked  out  for  his  own  as  well  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at,  and  it  is  pretty  certain  that 
he  generally  did.  He  had  certain  legiti- 
mate "  squeezes  "  on  nearly  everything  he 
did ;  he  had  a  commission  on  the  servants 
he  employed,  on  the  provisions  he  bought, 
and  on  all  the  other  general  expenses  of 
the  house.     One  can  see  with  half  a  glance 


4G  joim. 

what  a  chance  he  had  hi  transactions  with 
the  native  merchants.  A  thousand  chests  of 
tea  or  as  many  packages  of  silk  could  pay 
him  ever  so  small  a  squeeze,  and  the  aggre- 
gate would  be  a  good  addition  to  his  regu- 
lar wages.  The  comprador  was  earnest,  ac- 
tive, and  frugal,  and  by  strict  attention  to 
business  and  rigid  economy  he  could  save 
five  or  ten  thousand  dollars  a  year  out  of  an 
income  of  one  thousand.  Nobody  cared  if 
he  did,  as  he  was  worth  the  money ;  he  saved 
a  deal  of  trouble  and  exertion  on  the  part 
of  the  foreigner,  and  these  are  no  joke  in  a 
country  where,  for  a  large  part  of  the  year, 
the  operation  of  winking  your  riglit  eye 
will  throw  you  into  a  perspiration. 

At  first  a  great  convenience,  the  compra- 
dor soon  became  a  necessity.  Merchants 
Ijcgan  to  think  tliey  were  putting  too  much 
in  the  hands  of  the  native,  and  some  of  them 
tried  to  do  witliout  him.  Vain  hope  !  lie 
was  an  Old  Man  of  the  Sea  whom  they  could 
not  shake  off*.  Probably  there  are  no  people 
in  the  world  who  understand  the  system  of 


THE   COMPRADOR.  47 

guilds  and  trades  -  unions  better  than  the 
Chinese.  They  make  combinations  quite 
surpassing  any  of  European  or  American 
origin,  and  the  combinations  hold  together 
with  iron  tenacity. 

Had  the  foreign  merchants  begun  origi- 
nally to  deal  directly  with  the  natives,  they 
might  have  done  so  to  this  day ;  but  hav- 
ing once  adopted  the  comprador,  he  became 
a  link  in  the  chain  of  guilds  and  unions,  and 
could  not  be  set  aside.  Suppose  I  am  in 
business  in  Shanghai,  and  determine  to  do 
without  a  comprador  and  attend  to  my  own 
purchases.  I  go  to  a  native  qierchant  and 
ask  for  his  tea  samples;  he  shows  them, 
and  I  ask  the  price  of  a  thousand  chests. 
"  IS'o  have  got,"  is  the  reply ,  "  no  can 
catchee."  I  go  to  another,  and  another, 
with  the  same  result;  not  one  has  a  pound 
of  tea  to  sell  to  me.  The  guild  has  ordered 
it ;  and  until  I  deal  through  a  comprador  I 
can  do  nothing  in  tea,  or  silk,  or  wax,  or 
any  other  Chinese  product.  Let  me  send 
my  comprador,  I  get  the  market  quotations 


48  JOHN. 

at  once.  So  it  goes  with  all  that  one  buys 
or  sells  in  Chinese  ports,  and  so  it  goes 
with  nearly  all  dealings  with  Chinese 
merchants.  Their  guilds  are  the  most 
comprehensive  and  most  perfect  in  their 
operations  of  all  I  have  seen  in  any  part 
of  the  world. 

It  is  interesting  (and  pitiful  too)  to  see 
how  completely  the  merchant  in  Far  Cathay 
is  in  the  hands  of  the  comprador.  Go  into 
any  large  house  at  Shanghai  or  Hong-Kong 
and  ask  any  question  concerning  the  mar- 
ket ;  the  chances  are  twenty  to  one  that  the 
person  you  address  will  turn  to  the  compra- 
dor and  repeat  the  inquiry.  The  compra- 
dor^s  answer  is  final,  and  no  one  ever  ap- 
peals from  it — at  least  I  have  never  known 
an  appeal.  If  you  have  a  draft  to  cash,  it 
is  the  comprador  who  determines  the  rate 
of  exchange  and  counts  out  the  money;  in 
the  latter  act  he  is  assisted  by  another  per- 
sonage, known  as  a  "  shroff."  The  currency 
of  the  East  is  the  Mexican  dollar,  and  it  has 
l^ecn  so  extensively  counterfeited  that  great 


J 


THE   COMPRADOR.  49 

care  is  necessary  to  distinguish  the  genuine 
from  the  imitation. 

Here,  again,  the  foreign  merchants  have 
left  the  matter  to  the  native ;  it  is  the  latter 
who  settles  the  matter,  and  by  whom  every 
dollar  is  handled.  The  class  of  employes 
known  as  "  shroffs "  are  found  in  every 
banking  establishment  and  every  com- 
mercial house  of  any  importance.  In  the 
smaller  houses  the  comprador  combines 
the  duties  of  shroff  with  his  own,  but  in  the 
larger  concerns  he  does  not  do  so.  The 
shroff  is  an  autocrat  by  whose  side  the  Em- 
peror of  Russia  pales  to  insignificance.  His 
word  is  absolutism  in  the  extreme  ;  and 
if  you  venture  to  doubt  it,  his  glance  is 
more  withering  than  the  breath  of  the  upas- 
tree. 

One  day  I  drew  some  money  from  a  lead- 
ing house  on  which  I  had  a  letter  of  credit, 
and  the  amoimt  was  paid  to  me  in  Mexicans. 
I  took  my  bag  of  dollars  to  my  hotel,  and 
locked  it  in  my  trunk ;  and  a  fews  days  later, 
wishing  to  obtain  some  notes  of  the  Hong- 
4 


50  JOHN-. 

Kong  and  Shanghai  Bank,  I  proceeded  with 
the  bag  aforesaid  to  that  establishment.  I 
stated  my  wants,  and  the  shroff  was  called 
to  count  my  dollars.  He  rejected  about  ten 
per  cent,  of  the  coins ;  and  on  my  expostu- 
lating, and  saying  that  I  received  them  from 
Blank  &  Co.,  and  was  sure  they  were  all 
right,  he  turned  on  me  a  look  that  would 
have  appalled  a  royal  Bengal  tiger.  I  felt 
my  heart  sink  in  my  boots,  and  would  fain 
have  crei:)t  under  a  walnut  shell  had  there 
been  one  handy.  Not  a  word  did  he  utter, 
but  his  contemptuous  look  and  equally  con- 
temptuous wave  of  the  hand  spoke  a  couple 
of  folio  volumes  (calf-bound)  at  least.  Ver- 
dantly I  appealed  to  the  meek  foreigner  to 
whom  I  had  addressed  myself  at  first ;  he 
spoke  not,  but  shook  his  head  to  the  extent 
of  a  small  octavo,  which  said,  "  The  shroff 
is  king  here,  and  I  am  nothing."  Angrily 
I  gathered  up  my  monej^,  swept  it  into  the 
bag,  rejected  the  notes  which  liad  been 
counted  forme,  and  walked  out  of  the  place. 
Then  they  knew  me  for  a  novice.    A  year's 


THE   COMPRADOR.  51 

residence  in  the  country  would  have  taught 
Die  to  bow  to  the  decision  of  the  shrofF  as 
to  that  of  the  Chief-justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  land. 

On  my  arrival  in  Shanghai,  I  found  in  my 
trunk — pity  I  can't  do  so  daily ! — an  Ameri- 
can gold  i^iece  of  twenty  dollars.  I  had  a 
few  purchases  to  make,  and  thought  it  a 
good  opportunity  to  get  rid  of  this  stray 
coin.  I  bought  some  books,  and  tendered 
the  piece.  The  party  who  served  me  was 
one  of  the  proprietors,  but  he  was  dumb  as 
to  its  value.  "  Comprador,  how  much  is 
this  worth  ?"  said  he  to  that  functionary  at 
the  cash-box,  and  the  reply  was,  "  Eighteen 
forty."  Eighteen  dollars  and  forty  cents  in 
silver  struck  me  as  rather  low  for  a  twenty- 
dollar  gold  piece,  and  so  I  bagged  the  coin, 
paid  in  Mexicans,  and  went  to  the  next 
shop  I  wished  to  patronize.  There  the 
same  scene  M^as  enacted,  with  the  difference 
that  the  response  was, "  Seventeen  twenty.-' 
I  suggested  that  I  had  just  been  offered 
eighteen  forty,  but  neither  comprador  nor 


52  JOHN. 

clerk  ventured  a  reply :  the  former  would 
not,  and  the  latter  dared  not. 

In  another  shop  I  was  offered  nineteen 
ten,  and  in  another  nineteen  thirty.  I  final- 
ly sold  it  for  twenty  dollars  and  twenty-five 
cents  in  silver,  and  had  good  opportunity 
to  think  of  the  possible  and  probable  inten- 
tions of  those  comj)radores  to  squeeze  that 
gold  piece.  Nineteen  Thirty  was  not  al- 
together unreasonable,  but  Mr.  Seventeen 
Twenty  was  of  exalted  views,  and  doubt- 
less had  a  fiimily  to  suj)port.  And  if  one 
of  them  had  oflered  me  five  dollars  and  a 
half  for  the  coin,  I  have  not  the  slightest 
doubt  that  his  principal  would  have  re- 
mained dumb  as  a  sheep  before  him,  and 
ventured  not  the  slightest  remonstrance. 
Go  where  you  will,  in  all  the  great  houses, 
banking  or  otherwise,  of  the  open  ports  of 
China,  you  will  find  all  the  financial  affairs 
of  the  concern  in  Chinese  hands,  and  con- 
trolled by  them  in  the  most  despotic  man- 
ner. 


CHENESE   PROGRESS.  53 


V. 

CHINESE  PROGRESS  IN  COMMERCIAL 

KNOWLEDGE. 

TiiE  result  of  this  association  of  the  for- 
eigner and  the  Chinese  in  business  has  been 
not  altogether  to  the  advantage  of  the  for- 
mer. The  Chinese  has  learned  the  lesson 
which  the  foreigner  has  unintentionally 
taught  him,  and  learned  it  well.  He  has 
set  up  for  himself,  and,  with  his  keenness 
and  frugality,  is  proving  more  than  a  match 
for  his  instructor. 

In  all  the  Chinese  ports  there  are  Chinese 
banks,  Chinese  insurance  companies,  Chi- 
nese boards  of  trade,  Chinese  steamship 
companies,  and  other  concerns,  all  in  Chi- 
nese management  and  supported  by  Chi- 
nese capital.  There  are  Chinese  importers 
and  exporters,  and  they  have  their  agencies 
in  London  and  Marseilles,  San  Francisco 


54  JOHN. 

and  New  York,  so  that  tliey  can  transact 
any  desired  business  without  calling  a  mid- 
dle man  to  their  aid.  Even  where  they 
liave  no  direct  agencies,  the  leading  Chinese 
houses  have  established  their  credit  with 
manufacturers  in  England  and  elsewhere, 
so  that  they  can  make  their  purchases  side 
by  side  with  a  foreign  competitor,  and  with 
the  certainty  of  selling  directly  to  the  na- 
tive jobber  or  retailer  without  risking  the 
possible  squeeze  of  the  comprador. 

Foreign  commerce  and  foreign  relations 
were  forced  uj^on  China,  and  were  a  splen- 
did thing  for  us  at  the  start ;  the  Chinese 
are  taking  their  revenge  now,  and  in  a  way 
quite  unexpected  to  us,  and  which  some  of 
us  pronounce  unfair.  The  evil,  if  we  may 
so  call  it,  has  grown  to  enormous  jDropor- 
tions,  and  is  growing  every  year. 

Tlie  sugar  trade  of  Amoy  and  Formosa 
has  gone  entirely  into  Chinese  hands.  It 
was  formerly  a  source  of  handsome  income 
to  several  foreign  houses.  Nearly  all  the 
flour  from  San  Francisco  to  China  is  ou  Chi- 


CnrXESE  PROGRESS.  55 

nese  account ;  a  foreigner  might  touch  it 
with  a  ten -foot  pole,  i^erhaps,  when  the 
sacks  are  piled  upon  the  dock,  but  it  would 
be  unsafe  for  him  to  touch  it  in  any  other 
way. 

The  rice  trade  between  China  and  other 
countries  is  almost  entirely  in  Chinese 
hands,  and  the  chances  are  that  the  Celes- 
tials will  have  a  monopoly  of  it  within  half 
a  decade.  The  native  merchant  is  satisfied 
wdth  a  veiy  small  profit,  such  as  w^ould  not 
tempt  a  foreigner,  and  thus  the  foreigner  is 
ousted.  I  know  of  one  transaction — a  ship- 
ment of  flour  from  San  Francisco  to  Hong- 
Kong — in  which  the  net  profit  was  exactly 
half  a  cent  per  sack,  and  the  merchant  was 
quite  content.  In  another  case  a  Chinese 
had  bought  twenty-five  thousand  dollars' 
worth  of  goods,  and  sold  them  next  day 
for  an  advance  of  a  hundred  dollars.  "  My 
makee  good  pigeon  allee  same  likee  t'hat," 
he  said  in  my  hearing,  and  the  twinkle  of 
his  eye  showed  that  he  was  satisfied  with 
the  operation,  and  ready  for  another  like  it. 


56  JOHN. 

Year  by  year  foreigners  are  retiring  from 
China  and  Japan,  some  by  the  not  unusual 
process  of  failure,  and  others  by  the  slower 
but  more  desu-able  means  of  liquidation. 
Some  go  away  in  wrath  and  profanity,  and 
vaguely  say  that  there  has  been  "  overtrad- 
ing in  the  East,"  and  "  the  country  has  been 
bought  out,"  while  others  frankly  confess 
that  the  Chinese  are  too  much  for  them. 
They  cannot  live  on  the  wonderfully  small 
profits  which  content  the  Chinese,  and  after 
making  a  thorough  trial  of  business,  they 
confess  themselves  worsted.  Buyers  will 
generally  patronize  the  cheapest  market,  ir- 
respective of  nationality;  and  you  may  talk 
yourself  hoarse  about  the  necessity  of  sup- 
porting foreign  trade  and  all  that,  but  the 
chances  are  even  you  will  buy  of  a  Chinese 
because  he  will  sell  cheaper  than  a  Euro- 
2)ean. 

In  Yokohama  I  wanted  some  clothing 
suited  to  the  climate,  and  proceeded,  at  the 
advice  of  a  resident  friend,  to  the  shop  of 
Quoug  Chang,  tailor.    Mr.  Chang  was  polite 


CHDsESE   PROGRESS.  57 

and  ready  for  business ;  he  showed  mo  sam- 
ples of  his  goods,  and  gave  me  his  prices, 
and  the  latter  were  certainly  reasonable. 
lie  offered  to  make  ;me  a  complete  suit — 
*''no  fittee  no  takee" — of  blue  serge  for  ten 
dollars.  With  a  fragment  of  the  cloth  I 
went  to  a  foreign  tailor,  who  wanted  sev- 
enteen dollars  for  the  same  article.  Other 
prices  were  in  proportion ;  and  I  need  hard- 
ly say  that  Quong  Chang  was  my  tailor  dur- 
ing my  stay  in  Yokohama,  and  that  he  rang 
with  the  utmost  caution  every  Mexican  dol- 
lar I  paid  him,  lest  he  might  unwittingly 
take  in  a  counterfeit. 

Perhaps  the  cut  of  his  clothing  was  not 
quite  up  to  that  of  the  foreigner,  but  the 
sewing  was  the  same,  as  it  was  done  in  both 
cases  by  native  workmen.  But  it  required 
a  sharp  eye  to  distinguish  the  one  from  the 
other ;  and  I  have  never  seen  reason  to  re- 
gret my  patronage  of  the  Celestial.  The 
reason  of  the  difference  in  price  is  easy  to 
see.  Quong  Chang  had  a  small  shop,  while 
Mr.  Foreigner  had  a  large  one  ;  Q,  C.  lived 


58  JOHN. 

on  ten  cents  a  day,  while  F.  nebded  three 
or  four  dollars ;  Q.  C.  had  his  family  in  a 
single  back-room,  while  F.'s  fjimily  had  a 
house  to  itself;  Q.  C,  rode  out  on  foot  gen- 
erally, while  F.  had  a  carriage  with  horse 
and  groom ;  Q.  C.  was  content  with  a  liv- 
ing and  a  trifle  beyond,  while  F.  wanted  to 
make  a  fortune  in  ten  years  and  go  home. 
If  Quong  could  not  make  fifty  cents  profit 
on  the  transaction,  he  would  put  up  with 
twentj^-five,  or  even  ten,  wdiile  his  competi- 
tor would  not  think  the  job  worth  touch- 
ing unless  it  netted  at  least  twenty-five  jDer 
cent,  on  the  amount  of  money  handled. 

I  have  thus  detailed  this  matter,  as  it  is 
a  good  illustration  of  the  general  competi- 
tion between  Chinese  and  foreigners  in  the 
East.  In  every  instance  the  Chinese  has 
the  best  of  it,  and  there  is  no  possible  way 
to  get  ahead  of  him,  or  even  to  draw  along- 
side. What  with  his  guilds  and  the  com- 
prador drag  on  the  foreigner,  on  the  one 
liand,  and  his  economic  habits  of  life  and 
the  transaction  of  business,  on  the  other, 


CHINESE   PROGRESS.  59 

John  is  entirely  at  ease,  and  his  power  is 
growing  every  clay. 

When  the  Chinese  ports  w^ere  first  open- 
ed, the  foreign  trade  went  into  English  and 
American  hands,  but  in  a  few  years  the  Ger- 
mans came  in  and  took  a  large  share  of  it. 
They  could  live  and  work  cheaper  than 
their  competitors,  and  for  a  considerable 
W' hile  they  flourished.  But  when  the  Chi- 
nese came  to  the  front,  all  others  suffered 
alike,  as  the  new  competitor  could  beat 
each  and  every  one  of  them  in  the  ability 
to  get  along  with  small  profits.  A  Chinese 
ofiicial  said  one  clay  to  a  friend  of  mine, 
"Englishman  and  Melican  man  come  here 
makee  big  pigeon ;  bimeby  long  come  Ger- 
man man  eatee  up  Englishman  and  Meli- 
can man ;  Chinaman  come  now,  he  makee 
eat  up  German  man ;  some  time  you  makee 
see  Chinaman  eatee  every  ting."  There  is 
every  reason  to  believe  that  his  prediction 
will  be  fulfilled  in  the  main;  that  the 
"  eatee  up "  is  going  on  pretty  rapidly  a 
great  many  persons  can  testify. 


CO  JOHN. 

In  IIoug-Kong  the  Cliinese  houses  are  in- 
creasing annually,  while  the  English  and 
other  foreign  ones  are  decreasing.  Rows 
of  stores  formerly  occupied  by  English  mer- 
chants have  been  given  up  to  Chinese,  and 
the  number  grows  and  grows  witli  each  re- 
curring season.  Nineteen  twentieths  of  the 
j)opulation  of  Hong-Kong  are  Chinese,  and 
there  is  not  a  branch  of  business  into  which 
they  have  not  entered.  They  have  ship- 
ping and  commercial  houses;  steamship, 
banking,  and  insurance  companies,  as  I  have 
already  mentioned ;  and  you  can  buy  in  their 
shops  nearly  every  article  of  foreign  man- 
ufacture that  you  can  buy  in  the  English 
stores,  and  almost  invariably  at  a  lower 
price.  The  complete  free  trade  established 
at  Hong-Kong  has  been  good  for  the  Eng- 
lish manufacturer,  but  not  so  for  the  Eng- 
lish merchant  who  established  himself  in 
the  colony. 

So  much  for  John  on  his  own  soil.  Let 
us  sec  what  he  has  done  in  carrying  the 
war  into  the  enemy's  country. 


CHINESE  MERC  HANTS.  61 


VI. 

ESTABLISHMENT  OF  CHIXESE  MER- 
CHANTS IN  FOREIGN  COUNTRIES. 

We  are  all  pretty  well  aware  of  what  they 
have  done  in  California,  and  so  I  will  not  take 
lip  that  branch  of  the  subject.  In  all  the 
open  ports  of  Japan  the  Chinese  are  thick- 
1}'  established.  Their  competition  is  more 
with  Europeans  than  with  the  Japanese, 
and  they  have  succeeded  in  making  a  very 
large  inroad  into  the  profits  of  the  foreigner, 
though  less  so  than  at  Hong-Kong,  Shang- 
hai, or  the  other  Chinese  ports.  Going  west 
from  Hong-Kong,  we  come  to  Cochin  China, 
the  French  possession,  of  which  Sai-gon  is 
the  capital.  There  the  Chinese  have  been 
steadily  cutting  into  the  trade,  until  they 
have  by  far  the  best  of  it,  and  have  driven 
some  foreign  houses  out  of  business.  Dur- 
mg  187G  the  Chinese  shipped,  nine  tenths  of 


62  JOHN. 

the  rice  crop,  amounting  to  nearly  6,000,000 
piculs  (133  pounds  to  the  picul).  All  other 
articles  of  export  were  shipped  by  them, 
with  a  very  few  exceptions,  and  they  have  at 
least  five  sixths  of  the  import  trade.  Much 
of  the  shipment  is  to  Hong-Kong,  and  a 
great  portion  of  it  is  in  Chinese  vessels, 
while  many  of  the  English  ships  find  it  ex- 
pedient to  employ  Chinese  agents. 

The  Hong-Kong  agency  of  the  only  line 
of  steamers  running  to  Bang-kok,  Siam,  is 
Chinese ;  and  when  I  purchased  my  ticket 
by  one  of  the  company's  ships,  I  was  obliged 
to  apply  to  the  head  of  the  Yuen  Fat  Hong, 
and  make  my  negotiations  with  him.  The 
captain  told  me  that  all  the  rice  carried 
by  him  or  his  companion  vessels  was  on 
Chinese  account ;  and  I  found  on  reaching 
Bang-kok  a  Chinese  line  of  steamers  run- 
ning to  Singapore.  Foreign  business  at 
Bang-kok  grows  smaller  each  year,  while 
Chinese  business  increases.  The  Celestial 
has  much  of  the  local  trade  in  Bang-kok. 
I  was  told  that  the  government  licenses  for 


CHENESE   MEECHANTS.  63 

the  sale  of  spirits  were  in  the  hands  of  a 
Chinese,  while  another  had  the  monopoly 
of  gambling-houses. 

At  Singapore  there  are  more  than  100,000 
Chinese,  one  fourth  as  many  Malays,  and 
about  1000  Europeans.  The  Chinese  have 
gained  in  numbers,  while  the  Europeans 
have  lost,  in  spite  of  the  steadily  increas- 
ing importance  of  Singapore.  While  I  was 
there  a  quarrel  arose  between  the  Chinese 
and  foreign  merchants — or  rather  it  was  in 
progress  when  I  arrived — concerning  the 
delivery  of  pepper,  gambler,  and  other  ar- 
ticles of  merchandise  which  the  former  sell 
to  the  latter.  The  disputed  point  was  on 
a  matter  of  delivery,  the  latter  demanding 
and  the  former  refusing  to  make  delivery  at 
the  foreign  go-downs  (warehouses).  The 
foreigners  united,  and  agreed  not  to  buy 
until  the  point  was  yielded  to  them ;  the 
Chinese  united,  and  refused  to  sell  except 
at  their  own  go-downs. 

See  the  advantage  of  a  Chinese  combina- 
tion over  a  foreign  one.  When  I  left  Sin2:a- 


G4  JOHN. 

jDore  two  of  the  foreign  houses  had  broken 
from  the  combination,  and  were  buying 
pepper  and  gambier  on  the  terms  of  the 
Chinese,  while  the  latter  were  as  firm  as 
the  rock  of  Gibraltar.  I  don't  know  who 
won  the  fight,  but  I  think  it  is  not  hard  to 
guess,  especially  as  there  had  been  similar 
troubles  before,  in  w^hich  the  Chinese  came 
out  ahead.  Certainly  they  are  a  most  inde- 
fatigable lot  of  merchants,  and  it  is  really 
a  wonder  how  so  many  of  the  natives  of  the 
Flowery  Kingdom  manage  to  make  a  liv- 
ing on  the  little  island  of  Singapore.  There 
is  not  much  to  choose  in  that  city  between 
the  Chinese  and  the  Malay.  Deal  with  one 
and  you  will  generally  wdsh  you  had  dealt 
with  the  other — or  neither. 

Java  has  not  been  extensively  overrun  by 
the  Chinese,  owung  to  certain  restrictions 
that  tlie  Dutch  have  put  upon  their  coming. 
The  authorities  claim  the  right  to  say  who 
may  or  may  not  reside  in  Java,  and  not  in- 
frequently they  put  a  negative  on  the  ad- 
vent of  foreigners,  not  only  of  Chinese,  but 


CniXESE   MERCHANTS.  bO 

of  other  nationalities.  Nevertheless,  there  is 
a  large  number  of  them,  and  they  are  found 
in  all  parts  of  the  island,  as  keenly  alive  lo 
industry  and  profit  as  anywhere  else.  Many 
employments  are  almost  or  entirely  in  their 
hands;  opium  and  liquor  licenses  are  gen- 
erally farmed  out  to  Chinese  contractors, 
and  they  rent  and  manage  many  of  the  rice, 
coffee,  and  other  estates.  "When  1  wanted 
to  hire  a  carriage  for  a  journey  into  the  in- 
terior, I  was  told  that  all  such  vehicles  were 
in  the  hands  of  the  Chinese,  and  the  high 
price  I  was  forced  to  pay  found  its  way  into 
a  Celestial's  pocket. 

In  Batavia  and  other  ports  of  Java  the 
Chinese  are  largely  interested  in  commerce, 
and  their  monojioly  of  the  rice  trade  is  well- 
nigh  complete.  They  import  rice  from  Siam, 
Cochin  China,  and  Burmah,  as  the  rice  crop 
of  Java  is  not  sufficient  to  meet  the  demand 
upon  the  island.  Gradually  they  have  ex- 
tended the  traffic  until  the  local  trade  is 
completely  in  their  hands ;  and  if  any  out- 
sider ventures  to  interfere  Avitli  them,  he  is 
5 


GG  JOHN. 

severely  pimislied.  Some  time  ago  a  Ba- 
taviau  firm  (uot  Chinese)  thought  it  saw  a 
chauce  for  profit  in  rice,  and  accordingly 
imported  a  cargo  from  Siam.  But,  to  the 
surprise  of  the  speculators,  they  found  they 
could  not  sell  the  rice  at  any  figure;  the 
guild  of  Chinese  merchants  had  given  the 
order,  and  nobody  would  purchase.  It  was 
held  for  several  weeks,  and  finally  sold  at 
a  slight  loss,  and  you  may  be  sure  that  the 
firm  in  question  has  been  careful  to  keep 
out  of  rice  since  that  transaction. 

In  the  interior  of  Java  you  find  many 
Chinese,  and  they  seem  to  have  come  to 
stay.  A  goodly  proportion  have  married 
and  settled ;  and  as  Chinese  wives  are  scarce, 
they  have  intermarried  with  the  Javanese, 
just  as  in  Siam  they  take  to  themselves  Si- 
amese wives.  I  was  interested  and  amused 
at  a  road-side  inn  in  Java,  wdiere  I  stopped 
for  luncheon,  to  find  a  Chinese  proprietor 
with  a  Javanese  household.  A  couple  of 
children  of  China-Javanese  blood  were  run- 
ning about  the  house,  and  a  third  was  in 


CniNESE   MEECHANTS.  G7 

the  arms  of  the  bnxom  mother,  who  sat  near 
the  box  where  John  kept  his  cash.  She  was 
one  of  the  fair  of  the  land,  and  appeared  to 
look  with  respect  and  obedience  upon  her 
liege  lord,  who  was  not  over  handsome.  I 
had  been  told  that  the  Javanese  (like  the 
Siamese)  women  are  quite  fond  of  taking 
Chinese  husbands,  who  are  pretty  sure  to 
care  for  and  support  them,  which  is  not  al- 
ways the  case  with  their  own  countrymen. 
In  Manila,  Penang,  and  Mahicca  the  Chi- 
nese have  established  themselves  quite  as 
firmly  as  in  Singapore  and  Java,  particular- 
ly in  Penang,  where  they  leave  compara- 
tively little  to  the  foreigner.  At  Moulmein 
and  Rangoon,  in  Burmah,  they  are  abundant 
and  prosperous,  and  I  could  almost  repeat 
word  for  word,  in  writing  of  their  course  in 
Rangoon,  what  I  have  written  about  Sai-gon. 
The  chief  export  of  Rangoon  is  rice,  and  a 
Chinese  takes  as  naturally  to  the  rice  trade 
as  a  duck  to  water.  He  has  taken  to  it  in 
Rangoon,  and  taken  it  in — not  so  fully  as 
in  Sai-gon,  since  there  is  a  large  export  to 


68  JOKN. 

England  and  India  in  English  hands,  but 
sufficiently  to  cause  discontent  to  foreign 
traders.  His  control  of  the  rice  trade  is 
yearly  increasing,  and  he  has  steamship 
lines  of  his  own,  so  that  he  is  under  obli- 
gations to  nobody. 

TJie  British  India  Steam  Navigation 
Com2)auy  is  an  important  concern,  possess- 
ing many  ships,  and  performing  service 
over  many  routes.  They  have,  among  oth- 
ers, a  line  between  Calcutta  and  Singapore, 
touching  at  Rangoon,  Moulmein,  Penang, 
and  Malacca,  and  carrying  the  mails  under 
a  government  contract.  When  tliey  first  be- 
gan the  service,  they  had  a  fine  business  in 
carrying  freight,  and  not  a  shij)  w^ent  either 
way  without  a  full  cargo  at  remunerative 
rates.  From  Rangoon  and  the  other  way 
ports  to  Singapore,  and  from  Singapore  to 
•Rangoon,  the  shippers  were  nearly  all  Chi- 
nese, as  they  had  the  lion's  share  of  the 
business  on  that  route. 

But  a  change  came  over  the  spirit  of  the 
dream  of  the  B.  I.  S.  N.  Company.    They 


CHINESE  MERCHANTS.  G9 

Lad  a  couple  of  steamers  whicli  had  be- 
come old  and  worn  in  the  service,  and  they 
were  astonished  and  delighted  one  day 
Avhen  some  of  the  Chinese  merchants  offer- 
ed to  purchase  the  gamy  ships  aforesaid. 
The  directors  laughed  as  they  received  the 
money  and  transferred  the  vessels,  and  they 
laughed  long  and  often  when  they  thought 
how  com^oletely  they  had  sold  the  Celestials 
in  selling  them  the  antiquated  craft.  The 
pigtailed  merchants  started  a  line  between 
Rangoon  and  Singapore  with  their  two 
steamers,  and  then  the  joke  was  complete. 
But  in  a  very  short  time  the  freight  list  of 
the  English  company  declined,  and  each 
month  it  declined  more  and  more. 

The  new  line  had  all  the  business;  its 
managers  sent  to  London  and  bought  some 
new  steamers ;  it  extended  its  service  to 
the  coast  of  Sumatra,  and  received  there- 
for a  subsidy  from  the  government  of  the- 
JsTetherlands  Indies ;  and  it  has  gone  on 
prospering  and  prosperous  ever  since.  The 
British  India  Company  runs  its  steamers 


TO  JOHN. 

with  tlie  liglitest  cargoes,  and  sometimes 
none  at  all,  and  but  for  its  mail  contract  it 
would  withdraw  altogether  from  that  par- 
ticular service.  Its  directors  laugh  no  more 
at  the  verdancy  of  the  Chinese  in  buying 
that  pair  of  venerable  steamers,  and  are  in- 
clined to  avoid  the  subject. 

Westward  beyond  Burmah  the  Chinese 
have  not  penetrated  in  great  numbers,  but 
they  are  for  from  unknown.  They  are  in 
Ceylon,  and  in  Calcutta,  Bombay,  and  other 
cities  of  British  India,  and  some  of  them 
have  strayed  to  London  and  a  few  of  the 
Continental  cities.  In  Calcutta  and  Bom- 
bay they  have  a  monopoly  of  the  manufact- 
ure of  bamboo  chairs  and  baskets,  and 
many  of  them  have  set  up  as  tailors,  boot- 
makers, and  the  like,  to  the  disgust  of  their 
competitors.  Thus  ftir  the  Chinese  ques- 
tion has  no  importance  in  India;  but  if  we 
may  judge  of  that  country  by  others  where 
tlie  Celestials  have  taken  foothold,  its  dis- 
cussion in  the  land  of  tlie  Vedas  and  Shastas 
cannot  be  long  delayed. 


STATISTICS   OF   CniiN'ESE   TliADE. 


VII. 

STATISTICS  OF  CHINESE  TRADE. 

China  lias  been  a  trading  nation  consid- 
erably against  her  will,  and  nearly  every 
concession  relative  to  foreign  commerce  has 
been  forced  from  her  at  the  cannon's  mouth. 
China  was  once  the  only  producer  of  tea  in 
the  world.  Other  nations  wanted  her  tea  and 
sent  ships  there  to  get  it.  Her  silk  was  also 
in  demand,  and  brought  a  high  price,  and 
her  porcelain  wares  and  ivory  carvings 
were  unrivalled.  The  other  nations  had 
very  little  that  was  wanted  in  China,  and 
consequently  nearly  all  the  purchases  in 
the  Celestial  Empire  were  paid  for  with 
solid  silver.  For  centuries  there  has  been 
a  steady  stream  of  silver  poured  into  China, 
and  the  end  is  not  yet ;  Mexican  and  other 
dollars  are  melted  into  "  sycee,"  and  in  this 
shape  form  a  very  inconvenient  medium  of 


Va  JOHN. 

exchauge.  The  model  for  a  block  of  sycee 
silver  is  a  woman's  shoe  ;  aud  as  there  is  no 
national  standard  for  the  size  of  a  Chinese 
woman's  foot,  the  ingots  vary  in  size,  and 
necessitate  the  weigliing  of  every  lot  of 
silver  bought  or  sold.  Each  party  to  the 
transaction  weighs  the  metal,  and  it  some- 
times liai)pens  that  a  difference  in  the 
weighing  apparatus  leads  to  a  quarrel.  A 
local  poem  thus  describes  this  Oriental 
currency : 

"Some  ask  me  what  the  cause  may  be 
That  Chinese  silver's  called  sijcee. 
But  probably  they  call  it  so 
Because  they  sigh  to  see  it  go." 

I  have  elsewhere  alluded  to  Kiachta,  on 
the  Mongolian  frontier,  which  was  founded 
in  1727  as  an  entrepot  of  international  com- 
merce between  Russia  and  Cliina.  Russia 
consumed  a  great  deal  of  tea,  and  for  a  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years  all  the  tea  used  in  the 
JMuscovite  Empire  was  imported  through 
Kiachta.  Alarmed  at  the  great  drain  of 
silver  to  jDay  for  this  tea,  the  Russian  gov- 


STATISTICS   OF   CHINESE   TRADE.         73 

ernmcDt,  early  in  the  present  century,  or- 
dered that  the  importation  of  tea  sbould 
be  paid  for  "  Tvith  articles  of  Russian  man- 
ufacture," and  not  with  coin.  The  wheels 
of  commerce  were  blocked  by  this  edict, 
but  only  for  a  short  time.  The  merchants 
at  the  frontier  were  not  slow  to  devise  a 
means  of  keeping  the  word  of  promise  to 
the  ear  and  breaking  it  to  the  hope.  The 
Russians  cast  their  silver  money  into  idols 
of  varying  sizes  and  weights ;  and  as  the 
material  was  of  coin  standard,  the  value 
was  readily  determined  by  weight.  These 
idols  were  clearly  "  articles  of  Russian  man- 
ufacture," and  met  the  requirements  of  the 
law.  The  government  again  interfered,  on 
the  ground  that  a  Christian  nation  should 
not  lend  itself  to  the  encouragement  of  idol- 
atry by  making  heathen  images.  Then  the 
merchants  adopted  the  shoe  as  the  model 
for  silver  castings,  and  silver  shoes  for  Chi- 
nese ladies  were  regular  articles  of  com- 
merce. But  I  doubt  if  a  single  one  of  these 
has  ever  served  the  actual  purposes  of  a 


74  joim. 

sliOG,  and  there  is  little  probability  that  it 
ever  will. 

The  value  of  China  as  a  tea-producing 
country  is  declining,  owing  to  tlie  rivalry 
of  other  countries.  Japan  is  a  heavy  ex- 
porter of  tea,  nearly  all  her  product  coming 
to  the  United  States,  and  making  a  serious 
inroad  upon  the  market.  India  began  the 
tea-culture  as  an  experiment,  by  which  it 
was  hoped  to  turn  a  large  area  of  the  hill- 
country  to  some  useful  purpose  and  bring 
a  revenue  to  the  government.  There  was 
great  difficulty  in  getting  a  supply  of  tea- 
plants  and  the  necessary  workmen  to  in- 
struct the  Indian  natives  in  preparing  the 
article ;  but  by  steady  perseverance  all  ob- 
stacles were  surmounted,  and  the  experi- 
ment grew  into  a  successful  reality.  The 
English  market  now  derives  a  large  supply 
of  tea  from  India,  and  it  is  steadily  growing 
in  liivor.  The  Dutch  government  intro- 
duced the  tea-culture  into  Java,  and  with 
great  success.  The  Java  teas  have  become 
popular  in  Holland,  and  a  few  cargoes  of 


STATISTICS    OF   CHINESE   TRADE.  7o 

tliem  have  been  sold  in  England  at  satis- 
factory prices.  Attempts  have  been  made 
at  cultivating  tea  in  North  America,  but 
thus  far  they  have  failed.  It  is  easy  enough 
to  raise  the  tea-plant  in  certain  portions  of 
the  United  States,  but  the  fatal  weakness 
of  the  scheme  is  in  the  cost  of  labor  for 
manipulating  the  article  and  preparing  it 
for  market.  There  is  a  vast  amount  of 
hand-work  necessary ;  and  no  American  or 
European  country  can  compete  with  Asia 
in  the  cheapness  of  labor,  nor  is  likely  to 
do  so  for  a  long  time  to  come,  America  is 
not  destined  to  be  a  rival  of  China  as  a  tea- 
growing  country ;  but  it  is  otherwise  with 
Japan,  India,  and  Java.  The  English  are 
confidently  looking  forward  to  the  time 
when  they  can  leave  China  out  in  the  cold 
and  draw  their  entire  supply  of  tea  from 
India;  and  from  present  indications  the 
date  is  not  very  far  in  the  future. 

Figures  are  sometimes  dry  reading,  and 
therefore  I  give  warning  at  this  point  that 
some  units  and  tens  are  coming.     Those 


76  joim. 

wlio  don't  like  them  may  jump  a  few  para- 
graplis,  and  those  wlio  can  stand  the  inflic- 
tion may  read  straight  along  as  though 
nothing  had  happened.  The  Customs  De- 
partment of  China  has  published  elaborate 
and  careful  statistics  of  the  foreign  trade 
of  the  country,  and  from  these  statistics 
many  interesting  facts  may  be  gleaned. 
The  trade  of  a  single  port  will  be  sufficient 
for  jDurposes  of  illustration,  and  so  we  will 
consider  that  of  Shanghai.  In  1871,  the 
total  foreign  imports  into  Shanghai  were 
valued  at  13,245,000  taels  (a  tael  is  worth 
$1.33^),  while  the  native  exports  to  foreign 
countries  for  the  same  year  were  10,017,000 
taels.  In  1872  these  figures  were  9,003,000 
imports  and  18,088,000  exports;  in  1873 
they  were  respectively  7,500,000  and  19,- 
075,000  ;  in  1874,  8,202,000  and  15,050,000; 
in  1875, 10,500,000  and  17,000,000;  while  in 
187G  they  were  13,000,000,  against  25,000,- 
000.  It  will  be  observed  that  the  balance 
is  largely  in  favor  of  Sliaiighai  and  against 
the  foreigner.   In  other  ports  of  China,  par- 


STATISTICS   OP  CHINESE   TRADE.         77 

ticulrii'ly  at  Canton  and  Foochow,  the  bal- 
ance against  liim  is  even  greater  than  at 
Shanghai,  and  shows  no  sign  of  diminish- 
ing immediately.  Twenty  years  ago  there 
was  a  much  larger  balance  than  at  present, 
and  it  was  no  wonder  that  the  native  mer- 
chants grew  flit  and  sleek.  Their  profits 
were  large,  and  competition  was  less  active 
than  to-day.  The  foreign  merchant  in  the 
China  trade  was  also  able  to  show  a  hand- 
some return  at  the  end  of  each  year,  and 
sometimes  he  made  colossal  profits  on  a 
single  operation.  Times  have  changed 
since  then,  and  the  most  of  the  merchants 
will  assure  you  that  the  business  has  flillen 
into  the  sere  and  yellow  leaf. 

England  has  the  largest  share  of  the 
trade  of  China;  she  took  the  lead  when  the 
country  was  opened  to  commerce,  and  has 
managed  to  maintain  it.  The  entrances 
and  clearances  of  British  steamers  at  Shang- 
hai for  a  recent  year  were  1029,  and  of 
American  ships  for  the  same  period  821. 
(These  include  the  American  steamers  en- 


78  JOHN. 

gaged  in  the  coasting  trade,  and  also  Brit- 
ish steamers  in  the  same  employment.)  Of 
sailing-vessels  there  were  414  British  en- 
trances and  clearances,  against  311  Ameri- 
can ;  the  totals  of  steamers  and  sailing-ves- 
sels were  1443  British  and  1032  American 
— the  former  with  an  aggregate  of  1,087,605 
tons,  and  the  latter  with  697,283  tons.  The 
average  tonnage  per  ship  is  greater  for  Brit- 
ish tlian  for  American  commerce,  as  one 
can  readily  perceive  by  an  analysis  of  the 
above  figures.  In  the  same  year  there  were 
190  German  vessels  of  109,108  tons,  79 
French  vessels  of  114,173  tons,  and  93  Jap- 
anese of  101,582  tons.  The  French  have 
the  largest  average  tonnage  per  vessel:  this 
fact  is  due  to  the  great  size  of  the  mail 
steamers  of  the  ComjMgnie  Messageries  Ma- 
7'itlmes,  which  j^erform  a  fortnightly  service 
each  way  between  Marseilles  and  Shang- 
hai. Deduct  the  26  entrances  and  the 
same  number  of  clearances  of  these  regular 
steamers,  and  tlie  French  aggregate  of  79 
for  the  year  is  reduced  to  a  small  figure. 


i 


STATISTICS   OP   CHINESE   TRADE.         79 

In  the  same  period  there  were  14  entrances 
and  clearances  of  Danish  vessels,  8  Dutch, 
27  Russian,  89  Spanish,  10  iS;"orwegian,  11 
Siamese,  and  927  Chinese. 

The  figures  showing  tlie  value  of  the  va- 
rious foreign  imports  at  Shanghai  (other 
than  specie)  are  not  especially  encouraging 
to  Americans.  For  the  year  under  consid- 
eration. Great  Britain  is  put  down  for  20,- 
790,000  taels  (I  omit  the  odd  thousands) ; 
India,  for  16,613,000;  Singapore  and  the 
Straits,  518,000;  Australia,  488,000 ;  Japan, 
2,939,000 ;  and  the  United  States,  726,000  ! 
The  total  of  imports  is  47,973,000  taels,  and 
there  were  re-exports  to  other  Chinese  ports 
to  the  value  of  34,908,000  taels,  leaving  a 
net  value  for  Shanghai  of  13,000,000  taels. 
Opium  stands  at  the  head  of  the  list  of  for- 
eign imports,  and  next  to  opium  we  have 
cotton  piece-goods.  Opium  is  not  our  af- 
fair, and  therefore  we  will  not  stop  to  figure 
upon  it;  but  we  have  something  to  say 
about  articles  of  cotton  manufacture. 

Of  gray   shirtings   there    are    5,360,000 


80  JOHN. 

pieces,  and  of  plain  wliite  sbirtings  605,000. 
There  are  2,903,000  pieces  of  T-clotlis, 
while  of  drills  there  are  918,000  pieces  of 
English  make,  99,000  Dutch,  and  191,000 
American.  There  are  224,000  pieces  of 
English  jeans,  27,000  Dutch,  and  7000 
American.  For  sheetings  the  English  are 
credited  with  31,000  pieces,  and  the  Amer- 
icans with  83,000.  Other  cotton  goods  are 
imjDorted,  but  they  are  of  no  sjDccial  conse- 
quence to  us,  and  I  omit  the  figures  con- 
cerning: them. 


SOMETHING  FOR  AMERICAN  MERCHANTS.  81 


VIII. 

SOMETHING  FOR  MIERICAN  MER- 
CHANTS. 

Here  is  a  trade  which  we  should  look 
after  more  carefully  than  we  have  been 
looking  the  past  few  years.  Formerly  we 
had  our  share  of  it,  but  it  was  lost  during 
the  American  civil  war,  and  has  never  been 
regained.  There  is  an  old  maxim  that 
"  all's  fair  in  love  and  war."  That  it  is  a 
most  pernicious  one,  and  has  been  made  the 
excuse  for  countless  dishonorable  actions,  I 
will  not  stop  to  prove.  Evidently  there  are 
many  persons  who  believe  that  all  is  fair  in 
commerce,  if  we  may  judge  by  certain  trans- 
actions in  the  Far  East.  I  have  elsewhere 
alluded  to  the  Opium  War  and  the  noble 
principles  upon  which  England  based  her 
conduct  in  that  affair;  hardly  less  dishon- 
orable has  been  the  course  of  British  mer- 
6 


82  JOHN. 

chants  in  respect  to  the  trade  in  cotton 
fabrics  in  China  and  Japan.  Our  war  gave 
them  an  advantage  for  the  time,  and  they 
filled  the  Eastern  markets  with  their  fab- 
rics. This  was  all  right  and  proper,  but  far 
otherwise  was  their  conduct  after  our  war 
was  over  and  we  again  entered  the  commer- 
cial field.  American  goods  were  popular, 
and  the  English  dealers  found  it  to  their  in- 
terest to  put  American  counterfeits  into  the 
Chinese  market.  They  imitated  the  trade- 
marks of  the  American  mills,  and  to  all  out- 
ward appearances  the  goods  were  the  same. 
But  they  were  heavily  weighted  with  sizing ; 
and,  though  of  good  apiDcarance,  they  could 
not  endure  washing  even  for  a  single  occa- 
sion. In  this  way  the  American  rej^utation 
was  greatly  injured;  and,  furthermore,  as 
the  counterfeits  were  far  cheaper  than  the 
genuine,  the  Chinese  merchants  were  led 
to  believe  that  the  English  houses  could 
sell  American  goods  cheaper  than  could 
the  Americans  tliemselves. 
While  in  China  and  Japan  I  examined 


SOMETIII^'G  FOR  A3IERICAN  MERCn^iNTS.  83 

goods  of  the  above  description,  and  had 
the  testimony  of  merchants,  customs  offi- 
cials, and  others  in  support  of  the  assertion 
concerning  the  frauds  in  the  trade.  Sev- 
eral years  ago  the  matter  ■^'as  called  to  the 
attention  of  the  Shanghai  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce, and  this  led  to  a  quiet  investigation 
of  the  practices  of  the  English  cotton  man- 
ufacturers. It  was  found  that  the  mills  at 
Manchester  (England)  were  using  seven  or 
eight  times  as  much  sizing  as  the  American 
mills,  and  that  a  skilled  chemist  was  a  nec- 
essary functionary  in  a  well-conducted  Eng- 
lish factory.  The  following  was  the  result 
of  washing  out  the  size,  etc.,  from  drills : 

Weight  in  Weight  ^  Loss  Per 

Gray.  Washed.  '      Loss.  Cciit. 

15  lbs 9  lbs.  10  oz 5  lbs.   6  oz. . .  .or  35.83 

14  lbs.  14  oz.... 9  lbs.    6  oz 5  lbs.   S  oz.  ...or  86.97 

14  lbs.   4oz....Slbs.  12oz 5  lbs.   8  oz.... or  38.60 

151bs.  10OZ....9  lbs.   9  oz Gibs.   1  oz.... or 38.80 

15  lbs.   2oz....9  1bs.   5  oz 5  lbs.  13  oz...  .or  38.34 

15  lbs 12  lbs.    2  oz 2  lbs.  14  oz. . .  .or  19.1T 

—or  an  average  of  loss  of  34J  per  cent. 
A  similar  fraud  was  practised  on  shiit- 


84  JOHN. 

ings;  iDieces  that  weiglied  7^  lbs.  being 
weighted  to  the  extent  of  three  pounds,  so 
as  to  make  them  sell  at  10^  lbs.  Now  look 
at  the  standing  of  genuine  American  cot- 
tons as  compared  with  the  above.  Twen- 
ty-five pieces  of  American  goods  were 
washed  with  the  following  result :  Weight 
of  40-yard  pieces  in  brown,  as  put  up  for 
export,  14  lbs. ;  weight  of  same  after  wash- 
ing, 13i  to  13 1  lbs. ;  percentage  of  loss  by 
washing,  31-  to  5  per  cent. 

A  comparison  of  the  above  statistics, 
taking  English  drills  per  invoices  of  Janu- 
ary, 1874  (tlie  sterling  price  reduced  to  its 
equivalent  in  American  gold),  and  Ameri- 
can drills  (the  currency  price  reduced  to 
gold  at  12^  per  cent,  premium),  shows  the 
following  result :  If  the  English  manufact- 
urer made  his  drills,  as  the  American,  with 
only  3^  to  5  per  cent,  (say  5  per  cent.)  siz- 
ing, it  would  increase  the  price  per  yard  in 
gold  to  11.24  cents,  while  the  price  of  the 
American  drill  on  the  same  basis  is  9.33 
cents— difference  in  favor  of  the  American 


SOMETHING  FOE,  AMERICAN  MERCHANTS.   85 

drill,  1.91  cents.  Or,  again:  If  the  Ameri- 
can manufacturer  should  degrade  his  stand- 
ard to  the  English,  using  34f-per-cent.  siz- 
ing, the  American  price  would  be  per  yard, 
gold,  6.54  cents,  while  tlie  English  price  on 
the  same  basis  is  7.87  cents — difference  in 
favor  of  the  American  drill,  1.33  cents. 

Since  these  frauds  were  first  exposed  we 
have  regained  a  little  of  the  China  trade  in 
cottons ;  but  the  tricks  of  the  British  mer- 
chants are  not  generally  known,  and  they 
still  have  the  lion's  share  of  the  business. 
More  persistence  on  our  part  is  absolutely 
necessary  to  secure  justice  to  ourselves  and 
jDrotect  the  untutored  Chinese  against  im- 
position. 

At  Canton  the  trade  statistics  make  a  far 
worse  showing  for  America  than  at  Shang- 
hai. During  one  year  there  were  1749  Brit- 
ish vessels  entered  and  cleared  at  Canton, 
against  97  German  and  14  American.  But 
it  should  be  explained  that  a  large  number 
of  Chinese  loixJias,  or  small  coasting-ships, 
trade  between  Hong-Kong  and  Canton  un- 


8G  JOHX. 

der  British  licenses,  and  tlius  the  number 
of  British  entries  and  clearances  is  largely 
increased.  Furthermore,  the  most  of  the 
American  ships  in  the  trade  of  Southern 
China  discharge  and  load  at  Hong-Kong 
and  do  not  enter  any  strictly  Chinese  port. 
But  even  with  all  this  in  consideration,  we 
are  far  behind  what  we  should  be  in  our 
commerce  with  the  more  southerly  portion 
of  the  Celestial  Empire. 


STEAM  COMMUNICATION  WITH   CHINA.    87 


IX. 

STEA^l  CO^niUNICATION  WITH  CHINA. 

Until  the  year  1867,  we  had  no  regular 
steam  communication  -svitli  China.  Our 
trade  was  conducted  in  sailing-ships,  and 
famous  were  the  voyages  made  in  the  olden 
time,  when  the  white-winged  clippers  flew 
homeward  with  their  cargoes  of  tea  and 
silk.  Steam  is  rapidly  driving  the  sailing- 
ship  from  the  ocean.  In  her  earnest  encour- 
agement of  steam-lines  in  all  parts  of  the 
world,  England  has  shown  far  more  shrewd- 
ness than  we  have.  The  completion  of  the 
Pacific  Railway  and  the  establishment  of 
an  American  steam-line  to  Japan  and  Chi- 
na occurred  in  the  same  decade  with  the 
opening  of  the  Suez  Canal.  The  routes  of 
commerce  with  the  Far  East  were  thus  ma- 
terially changed  both  for  the  Old  World 
and  the  Kew.     Formerly  we  were  obliged 


88  JOHN. 

to  send  our  ships  by  the  way  of  Cape  Horn 
or  the  CajDC  of  Good  Hope,  and  in  either 
case  it  was  necessary  to  cross  the. equator 
twice,  and  undergo  all  the  risks  and  discom- 
forts of  tropical  heat.  A  hundred  days  and 
more  were  required  for  the  voyage  from 
China  to  New  York ;  now  it  may  be  made 
in  thii'ty  days,  and  even  less.  We  have  es- 
tablished a  new  route  of  travel  and  com- 
merce, and  every  year  it  is  growing  in  poj)- 
ularity.  Merchandise  can  travel  rapidly  as 
well  as  passengers,  and  the  New-Yorker 
may  sip  his  morning  or  evening  tea  in  little 
more  than  a  month  from  the  day  the  leaves 
were  plucked  from  the  plants  on  Chinese 
hill-sides. 

There  are  now  two  steam -lines,  well 
equipped  and  well  managed,  between  San 
Francisco,  on  the  one  hand,  and  China  and 
Japan,  on  the  other.  From  each  end  of  the 
line  there  is  a  departure  every  two  weeks, 
and  the  voyage  across  the  Pacific  may  be 
set  down  as  tlie  longest  and  pleasantest  in 
the  world.     The  steamers  carry  out  assort- 


STEA3I   COMMUNICATION   -SVITn   Cnils'A.     89 

ed  cargoes  of  American  products,  including 
trade-dollars,  quicksilver,  cotton  goods,  ma- 
chinery, ginseng,  weighing  apparatus,  flour, 
borax,  and  other  things.  They  bring  in  re- 
turn tea,  silk,  porcelain,  and  general  mer- 
chandise, the  latter  consisting  mainly  of 
curiosities  from  China  and  Japan.  There 
is  always  great  haste  to  deliver  the  new 
crop  of  tea,  as  this  article  deteriorates  rap- 
idly with  age ;  and  the  sooner  it  can  be  put 
in  the  market,  the  better  it  is  for  the  inter- 
est of  all  concerned.  When  a  tea-laden 
steamer  arrives  at  San  Francisco,  a  railway 
train  is  drawn  up  at  her  side,  and  the  chests 
are  transferred  as  rapidly  as  possible  from 
ship  to  cars.  In  a  few  hours  the  work  is 
complete,  and  the  train  whizzes  away  to  the 
eastward.  It  has  the  right  of  way  over 
everything  but  a  passenger  train,  and  its 
halts  are  so  arranged  as  to  lose  the  least 
possible  amount  of  time.  It  climbs  the 
Sierras  and  winds  through  the  snow-sheds ; 
rattles  over  the  long  tangents  that  stretch 
like  sunbeams  across  the  alkali  plains  of 


00  JOHN. 

Utah  and  Nevada;  it  winds  throngli  the 
billowy  green  caq^et  of  Weber  and  Echo 
canons ;  it  ascends  the  long  slope  of  the 
Eocky  Mountains,  and  halts  a  moment  for 
breath  at  the  water -shed  of  the  Atlantic 
and  Pacific,  more  than  eight  thousand  feet 
above  the  level  of  their  ever-restless  waves. 
Then  down  the  mountains,  and  through  the 
broad  valley  of  the  Missouri,  across  the  fer- 
tile prairies  of  the  Mississippi,  passing  the 
lakes  and  crossing  the  Alleghanies,  the 
train  comes  at  length  to  the  banks  of  the 
Hudson,  and  halts  within  sight  of  the  spires 
of  New  York,  only  twelve  days  after  it  has 
bidden  farewell  to  the  Golden  Gate. 

The  two  steam-lines  traversing  the  great 
ocean  are  known  as  the  Pacific  IMail  and  the 
Occidental  and  Oriental.  Once  on  a  time 
they  were  hostile,  but  of  late  years  they 
have  been  harmonious  as  two  little  birds  in 
a  correspondingly  little  nest.  They  make 
their  departures  alternately,  and  a  passage 
certificate  for  the  one  line  is  good  for  the 
other.   The  ships  are  thoroughly  adajDted  to 


STEAM   COMMUXICxVTIOX   ^\ITIl   CHINA.     91 

the  service,  and  altogether  we  have  reason 
to  1)0  proud  of  them.  I  look  back  with 
feelings  of  pleasure  to  my  voyage  from  San 
Francisco  to  China,  and  unhesitatingly 
pronounce  it  one  of  the  most  agreeable 
trips  I  have  ever  made  on  the  great  water. 
In  a  dissertation  on  China,  it  may  not  be 
out  of  place  to  say  something  about  the 
journey  to  the  Flowery  Land. 


92 


X. 

A  VOYAGE  OVER  THE  PACIFIC. 

Precisely  at  noon,  the  time  appointed 
for  our  departure,  the  lines  were  cast  off,  and 
the  good  shij)  Oceanic  steamed  away  from 
the  dock  and  out  into  the  Bay  of  San  Fran- 
cisco. On  the  eastern  horizon  Monte  Dia- 
bolo  smiled  a  farewell  as  he  reflected  the 
mid-day  sun  of  an  unclouded  sky ;  and  be- 
yond him  we  could  see,  in  fancy,  the  snow- 
clad  Sierras  stretching  their  jagged  outline 
to  north  and  south.  Westward  rose  the 
sand-dunes  of  the  peninsula,  disappearing 
year  by  year  beneath  the  rapidly  growing 
metropolis  of  the  Pacific  coast ;  and  beyond 
it  lay  the  great  ocean,  five  thousand  miles 
in  width.  Our  ship  turned  her  prow  as  we 
swept  through  the  waters ;  the  land  seemed 
to  l)rcak  and  the  hills  to  separate,  that  we 
might  go  unrestrained  on  our  way ;  and  as 


A  VOYAGE   OVER  THE   PACIFIC.  93 

M'e  swept  past  the  frowning  fortress  of  Alca- 
traz,  and  looked  beyond,  the  Golden  Gate 
opened  its  broad  portal  and  gave  us  pas- 
sage to  the  sea.  It  is  not  a  narrow,  tortuous 
channel,  with  rocks  and  reefs  and  sand-bars 
threatening  myriad  dangers  to  the  naviga- 
tor, but  a  wide  opening,  where  a  dozen  ships 
may  enter  side  by  side.  What  thousands 
upon  thousands  have  passed  this  gateway 
to  enter  or  to  leave  the  land  of  gold!  What 
bright  hopes  have  been  borne  upon  these 
dancing  waters,  many  to  be  more  than  real- 
ized, and  many,  alas !  to  be  shattered  among 
the  rugged  mountains  and  by  the  banks  of 
California's  turbid  streams ! 

North  and  south  we  see  a  rocky  coast- 
line, which  softens  and  mellows  as  we  leave 
it  tlirther  and  farther  behind  us  ;  here  and 
there  along  its  dark  front  we  see  the  white 
stipple  made  by  a  farm-house  or  other  hab- 
itation, and  occasionally  a  sharp  cliff  stands 
out  more  boldly  than  its  fellows.  We  drop 
our  pilot,  the  ladder  is  drawn  in,  the  gang- 
way is  closed,  and  the  last  link  which  bound 


94  JOHN. 

us  to  America  is  broken.  Before  we  are 
fairly  outside  the  lieacllands  of  San  Fran- 
cisco Bay,  tlie  steamer  lays  lier  course  for 
Cape  King,  at  the  entrance  of  Jeddo  Gulf, 
five  thousand  miles  away.  Not  an  island, 
not  a  rock,  not  a  reef,  stands  between  us 
and  our  far-off  destination.  We  are  not  to 
be  cramped  for  sea-room. 

The  shore  fades,  the  sun  declines  in  the 
heavens,  and  the  day  and  the  land  disap- 
Y)esiY  together.  As  the  great  globe  of  fire 
sinks  beneath  the  waves,  it  is  exactly  in 
front  of  our  prow ;  the  light  trembles  upon 
the  waters,  and  a  long  gleam  of  shining 
gold  marks  the  division  of  sea  and  sky. 
Thus  day  after  day  we  witness  the  sunset, 
and  seemingly  we  are  no  nearer  to  it  at  the 
last  than  at  the  first.  Not  a  sail  greets  our 
eyes  for  more  than  four  thousand  miles ;  we 
are  a  speck  upon  the  waste  of  waters  circling 
round ;  and  there  is  nothing  to  greet  our 
eyes  save  the  billowy  blue  beneath  us,  or  the 
azure  dome  above.  As  our  first  morning 
breaks  upon  us,  it  reveals  a  horizon  of  waves, 


A   VOYAGE   OVER   THE   PACIFIC.  95 

and,  scan  it  closely  as  we  will,  we  can  de- 
scry naught  else.  We  are  "  off  soundings," 
as  the  sailors  say,  and  the  ocean  presents 
its  bluest  of  "  blue  waters,"  to  use  again  a 
marine  phrase.  The  depth  of  the  Pacific  is 
not  well  known,  as  it  has  been  only  slightly 
sounded,  but  enough  has  been  ascertained  to 
make  us  certain  that  it  is  no  small  matter. 
A  verdant  passenger  is  informed  that  land 
is  not  more  than  two  miles  away.  When 
he  has  strained  his  eyes  to  the  utmost  in  all 
directions  in  the  vain  endeavor  to  discover 
it,  he  is  told  that  he  can  find  it  directly  un- 
der the  keek  "  Don't  be  too  sure  of  that," 
lie  replies ;  "  none  of  us  know  how  deep  the 
Pacific  is,  and  it  is  just  possible  that  the  land 
you  speak  of  is  five  or  six  miles  away."  We 
cannot  combat  his  theory,  and  decline  to 
discuss  a  subject  where  neither  side  has 
any  facts  upon  which  to  base  an  argument. 
I  have  spoken  of  the  blue  sky ;  let  it  not 
be  supposed  that  the  heavens  were  at  all 
times  clear  and  unclouded.  On  the  contra- 
ry, more  than  three  fourths  of  our  voyage 


96  JOHN. 

we  have  had  clouds  and  fogs  in  abundance 
both  day  and  night,  and  there  liave  been 
four  or  five  days  at  a  time  when  we  have 
not  been  favored  with  even  the  faintest 
glimpse  of  the  sun.  At  times  the  clouds 
are  dull  and  leaden  ;  at  others  they  are 
sombre,  and  drop  down  rain;  again  they 
come  so  close  that  our  tall  masts  can  al- 
most pierce  them,  while  an  hour  later  they 
rise  far  above,  like  a  gigantic  dome.  Now 
they  are  light  and  fleecy,  as  though  the 
sheep  of  the  celestial  regions  had  cast  off 
their  wealth  of  wool ;  and  again  they  form 
long  feathers  and  bits  of  sj)ray  that  stretch 
above  and  around  us,  and  make  what  the 
sailors  call  "  a  mackerel  sky."  The  fog  of- 
ten lies  thick  around  us,  but,  apart  from  its 
humidity,  which  drives  us  below,  it  has  no 
terrors  like  its  Atlantic  kindred.  A  fog  on 
the  banks  of  Newfoundland  is  an  affair  of 
more  or  less  danger ;  it  conceals  icebergs, 
against  which  we  may  be  dashed  and  de- 
stroyed, and  it  renders  tlie  chance  of  a  col- 
lision with  steamers  or  sailing-craft  an  easy 


I 

A   VOYAGE   OVER   THE   PACIFIC.  97 

possibility.  The  history  of  transatlantic 
navigation  is  full  of  sad  incidents  whose 
primal  cause  was  the  perpetual  fog  that 
liangs  over  a  portion  of  the  great  highway. 
The  half-dozen  steamers  that  have  disap- 
l^eared,  never  to  be  heard  from,  doubtless 
met  their  fate  beneath  this  pall  of  descend- 
ed cloud.  But  on  this  broad  ocean  the  fog 
is  of  no  consequence  beyond  the  trifling  one 
I  have  mentioned,  and  its  hindrance  to  so- 
lar and  lunar  observations.  The  currents 
of  the  Pacitic  are  northward,  and  there  is 
a  steady  flow  of  water  through  Beliring 
Strait  into  the  Polar  Sea.  Consequently 
there  are  no  icebergs  to  stand  in  our  way, 
and  there  is  little  danger  of  a  collision  with 
another  vessel  on  a  route  where  not  a  sail  is 
to  be  seen  during  the  whole  voyage.  Imag- 
ine the  four  Middle  States  of  the  Union  to 
be  one  vast  field ;  a  dozen  men  walking 
through  it  at  random  would  have  more 
chance  of  running  against  each  other  than 
would  the  ships  navigating  the  Pacific  of 
coming  within  speaking  and  seeing  dis- 
7 


98  JOHN. 

tancc.  The  possibilities  of  collision  in  the 
fog  are  less  than  those  of  the  earth's  de- 
struction by  a  comet  within  the  next  twen- 
ty years. 

The  ocean  and  the  sky  are  an  interesting 
study.  On  a  clear  day  the  water  is  a  deep 
blue — almost  black,  indeed,  especially  when 
we  look  down  into  its  depths.  But  when 
clouds  veil  the  heavens,  the  water  is  blue 
no  longer,  or  rather  its  blue  seems  to  be 
tinged  with  gray,  as  though  reflecting  the 
color  of  the  dome  above  it.  There  is  a  per- 
petual variation  of  light  and  shade  and  col- 
or on  the  dancing  waves ;  and  sometimes  at 
sunset  the  western  horizon  burns  and  glows 
like  that  of  Egypt,  and  the  jDurple  and  yel- 
low and  crimson  spread  outward  and  up- 
ward, and  stretch  a  band  of  burnished  gold 
along  the  distant  water.  Sometimes  the 
sea  is  of  a  lake-like  stillness,  but  such  occa- 
sions are  rare  ;  more  often  it  is  in  motion, 
now  undulating  in  a  long  sloAvly  pulsating 
swell,  and  now  broken  into  wliitc-capped 
waves  that  rise  and  fall  with  rhythmic  reg- 


A  VOYAGE   OVER   THE   PACIFIC.  99 

ularity.  For  us  it  is  not  lashed  into 
tempests  :  our  voyage  is  a  summer  one,  and 
the  monotony  has  not  been  varied  by  a 
gale.  In  winter  it  is  otherwise,  and  the 
Pacific  frequently  belies  its  name  by  toss- 
ing the  mariner  as  wildly  as  he  has  ever 
been  tossed  on  the  Atlantic.  Had  Magel- 
lan sailed  in  this  latitude  in  December  or 
January,  he  would  have  given  another  name 
to  the  sea  he  christened  Peaceful. 

I  said  we  had  no  sight  of  sail;  I  forget. 
On  two  or  three  occasions  we  have  seen 
the  ocean  covered  for  hours,  far  as  the  eye 
could  reach,  with  the  sails  of  Portuguese 
men-of-war.  Thousands  of  them  have  been 
run  down  by  us,  and  we  made  no  note  of 
them  on  our  log.  Did  you  know  the  little 
kingdom  of  Portugal  possessed  such  a 
navy  ?  and  would  you  suppose  that  the 
captain  of  the  Oceanic  would  so  cruelly  sink 
the  craft  of  a  jDeaceful  nation  ?  Well,  this 
ship,  with  such  a  portentous  name,  is  a  ma- 
rine production  of  the  family  of  mollusks, 
combining  in  some  degree  the  peculiarities 


100  JOHN. 

of  snail,  jelly-fish,  and  sail-boat.  Below  the 
water  be  bas  a  thin  shell  enclosing  a  jelly- 
like body,  and  above  the  Avater  he  carries  a 
thin  membrane  stretched  between  two  sup- 
l)orts,  and  performing  the  duty  of  a  sail. 
lie  carries  no  clearance  or  other  papers,  and, 
sjDite  of  his  name,  is  not  under  the  protec- 
tion of  his  Jlost  Gracious  Majesty  the  King 
of  Portugal.  Consequently  there  is  no  dan- 
ger of  international  troubles  or  indirect 
damages  growing  out  of  the  destruction 
which  our  ship  has  wrought  among  these 
helpless  craft.  They  are  of  no  consequence, 
as  even  the  sea-birds  refuse  to  eat  them,  and 
what  a  sea-bird  will  decline  to  devour  may 
be  set  down  as  inedible.  The  birds  follow 
us  all  the  way  from  the  Golden  Gate  to  the 
Bay  of  Jeddo.  They  can  he  seen  at  almost 
any  hour  of  the  day  flying  gracefully  through 
the  air  or  taking  a  temporary  rest  in  the 
.waves  behind  us.  They  are  on  the  look- 
out for  edibles  from  the  table,  and  are  not 
particular  whether  they  come  from  the  cab- 
in or  the  steerage.   How  or  when  they  sleep 


A  VOYAGE  OVER  THE  PACIFIC.   101 

is  a  mystery,  as  they  do  not  come  on  board, 
and  the  steamer  does  not  wait  for  them  to 
take  "  forty  winks,"  or  any  other  number, 
during  the  still  watches  of  the  night.  We 
march  on  and  on,  and  the  engines  do  not 
once  stop  from  the  time  we  leave  the  Gold- 
en Gate  till  we  are  in  sight  of  Yokohama, 
eighteen  days  later. 

There  are  several  varieties  of  birds,  some 
little  larger  than  a  swallow,  while  others 
equal  a  full-grown  duck.  One  of  the  little 
fellows  flew  on  board  one  day,  and  was 
caught.  He  greatly  resembled  a  young  duck, 
save  in  the  bill,  which  was  shaped  like  a 
chicken's.  He  was  placed  in  a  tub  of  water, 
where  he  swam  around  quite  unconcerned, 
not  attempting  to  fly,  and  doubtless  won- 
dering what  had  made  the  ocean  so  small 
in  such  a  little  while.  After  half  an  hour's 
confinement  he  was  thrown  overboard, 
where  he  chattered  and  shrieked  a  greet- 
ing to  his  comrades,  and  probably  told  them 
of  the  wonderful  tilings  he  had  seen. 

Our  ship  is  British,  officers  are  mostly  so, 


102  JOHN. 

crew  is  Chinese,  and  passengers  are  of  va- 
ried origin.  The  latter  are  not  numerous 
— seven  in  all  in  the  cabin — and  they  in- 
clude American,  English,  French,  Japanese, 
Hindostanee,  Spanisli,  Clnuese,  German,  and 
perhaps  one  or  two  other  nationalities. 
You  may  think  the  above  statement  a  trifle 
incorrect,  but  you  would  not  if  you  could 
see  how  one  person  represents  three  coun- 
tries, and  another  two  at  least.  The  cabin 
is  so  large  and  the  number  so  small  that 
there  is  no  crowding;  and  though  ever}-- 
body  is  civil,  there  is  not  much  chance 
among  so  many  tastes  and  languages  that 
we  can  be  congenial.  One  passenger — he 
of  the  three  nationalities — is  on  his  way  to  a 
fortune.  He  was  born  in  India,  of  a  mixed 
parentage,  and  a  decade  or  so  ago  he  ran 
away  from  home.  lie  went  to  California, 
where  he  landed  with  a  cash  capital  of 
forty  cents,  and  for  years  had  a  sharp  strug- 
gle witli  poverty.  On  some  occasions  he 
went  two  whole  days  without  food,  and  for 
months  he  lived  upon  one  meal  a  day,  pur- 


A   VOYAGE    OYER    THE   PACIFIC.         103 

chased  at  the  low  price  of  ten  cents.  He 
struggled  bravely,  and  at  last  found  him- 
self comfortably  off,  possessing  a  small  house, 
a  wife,  a  child,  and  a  permanent  situation 
]:)riuging  him  two  thousand  dollars  a  year. 
Several  times  he  wrote  home,  but  as  no  re- 
sponse came  to  his  letters  he  concluded  that 
the  paternal  wrath  had  been  visited  upon 
him  and  blotted  his  name  from  the  fiimily 
record.  He  became  an  American  citizen, 
and  ceased  to  think  of  India. 

But  one  day  his  brother  comes  to  San 
Francisco  in  a  ship  from  Australia,  and  at  a 
venture  he  advertises  for  our  polyglot  pas- 
senger. He  has  done  the  same  in  London 
and  Melbourne,  in  Liverpool  and  Sydney,  in 
Glasgow  and  Calcutta,  and  in  a  dozen  other 
places,  but  all  to  no  purjDOse.  This  time 
the  advertisement  falls  on  good  ground, 
and  the  brothers  meet  after  a  separation  of 
twelve  years.  "  I  have  souglit  you  all  over 
the  world,"  says  the  new-comer.  "  I  have 
worked  my  passage  from  city  to  city ;  and 
whenever  I  could  make  any  money,  I  have 


104  JOHN. 

carefully  saved  it  to  sjiend  in  advertising 
for  you.  Our  ftither  died  nine  years  ago, 
and  left  half  a  million  dollars.  We  never 
received  a  letter  from  you,  and  had  no 
knowledge  of  your  whereabouts.  The  es- 
tate is  tied  up  in  the  courts,  and  nothing- 
could  be  done  till  we  found  wdiere  j'ou, 
the  eldest  son,  lived,  if  alive,  or  brought 
proof  of  your  death.  For  eight  years  I 
have  been  wandering  over  the  w^orld  in 
search  of  you,  and  what  a  relief  it  is  to  find 
you  !" 

The  heir  wdio  was  lost  and  is  found  tells 
me  with  tears  in  his  eyes  of  his  brother's 
devotion,  and  says,  "  Though  I  am  entitled 
by  the  law  to  the  whole  estate,  I  think  he 
deserves  a  good  share,  and  he  shall  have 
the  half  of  every  dollar  I  receive.  I  will 
stay  in  India  just  long  enough  to  close  my 
affairs,  and  then  I  will  return  to  America. 
It  has  been  kind  to  me  tvhen  I  was  in  dis- 
tress; I  have  become  a  citizen  and  married 
and  settled  there,  and  want  no  better  home." 

One  day  is  much  like  another.    We  rose, 


A   YOYAGE   OYER   THE    PACIFIC,        105 

dressed,  ate,  read,  talked,  wrote,  and  slept 
yesterday,  and  we  rise,  dress,  eat,  read,  talk, 
write,  and  sleej?  to-day.  No  morning  papers, 
no  AA^ar  news,  and  no  politics;  the  story-tellers 
are  soon  told  out,  and  the  singers  soon  sing 
tliemseh'es  songless.  On  Sundays  we  have 
service,  and  afterwards  all  tlie  officers  and 
crew  are  mustered  for  inspection.  With  a 
force  composed  partly  of  English  and  part- 
ly of  Chinese,  the  inspection  can  fairly  be 
called  la  revue  des  deux  mondes.  The  fire- 
men, coal-passers,  sailors,  Avaiters,  etc.,  are 
Chinese ;  all  officers  of  whatever  grade, 
from  the  butcher  and  poultry  chief  up- 
Avards,  are  English  or  American.  I  except 
from  this  list  of  officers  the  boatswain,  who 
is  Chinese — a  strong,  muscular  fellow  Avith 
an  intelligent  face,  a  bright  eye,  an  ear  that 
understands  English,  and  a  mouth  that 
gives  orders  in  Chinese  with  great  rapidity. 
The  sailors  are  in  general  athletic  fellows, 
with  bronzed  flices  and  strong  arms;  they 
are  said  to  be  excellent  for  ordinary  M'ork, 
but  unreliable  in  times  of  excitement  or 


lOG  JOHN. 

danger.  They  do  not  come  to  service  in 
the  cabin,  but  have  a  chapel  or  joss-house 
of  their  own,  where  they  worship  after  the 
dictates  of  their  consciences  or  the  customs 
of  their  fathers.  Fire-crackers  have  a  prom- 
inent phTce  among  their  religious  parapher- 
nalia, and  some  of  their  devotional  meetings 
are  opened  with  explosions  intended  to 
wake  up  their  deity  and  secure  his  atten- 
tion. Whenever  the  ship  passes  the  spot 
■where  tlie  Japan  was  burned  and  five  hun- 
dred Chinese  lost  their  lives,  a  special  service 
is  held  in  memory  of  those  whose  bones  are 
bleaching  beneath  the  weaves.  Quantities 
of  food  are  thrown  overboard  for  tlie  sus- 
tenance of  the  unhappy  spirits  doomed  to 
a  subaqueous  residence  forever.  Wlien  Chi- 
nese die  at  sea,  they  are  not  buried  in  the 
deep,  but  their  bodies  are  embalmed  and 
carried  to  land.  The  Chinese  have  a  great 
horror  of  sepulture  elsewhere  than  in  the 
Flowery  Kingdom,  and  for  this  rea&on  ev- 
ery Celestial  in  America  lias  arranged  that, 
living  or  dead,  he  shall  not  remain  among 


A   VOYAGE    OVER   THE   PACIFIC,        107 

US.  John  has  his  superstitions,  as  we  have 
ours,  and  he  is  the  hist  man  in  the  world  to 
give  them  up. 

On  the  twentieth  day  we  see  the  white 
cone  of  Fusi-Yama,  the  sacred  mountain 
of  Japan.  A  few  hours  hiter  we  pass  Cape 
King,  and  enter  the  Ba}'  of  Jeddo,  wp  whicli 
we  steam  till  we  drop  anchor  in  front  of 
Yokohama,  five  thousand  miles  from  the 
Golden  Gate.  From  Yokohama  the  steamer 
proceeds  to  Hong-Kong,  twelve  hundred 
miles  farther,  and  comxiletes  the  long  voy- 


108  JOHN. 


XI. 

SIGHTS  IN  CANTON. 

At  Hong-Kong  we  are  only  ninety  miles 
from  Canton,  the  best-known  city  in  Chi- 
na, for  the  reason  that  it  has  been  longest 
open  to  the  outer  world,  and  has  been  vis- 
ited by  more  travellers  than  any  other. 
It  is  generally  considered  the  most  attrac- 
tive and  picturesque — an  opinion  I  most 
heartily  endorse.  The  Cantonese  are  a  gay, 
cheerful  people,  and  though  ever  on  the 
look-out  for  good  bargains,  they  do  not  act 
as  if  the  pursuit  of  gain  were  tlic  sole  object 
of  their  Fives.  In  Shanghai  and  other 
Northern  cities  the  shopkeepers  are  often 
uncivil,  and  not  infrequently  make  a  posi- 
tive refusal  to  show  their  goods  unless  as- 
sured that  you  will  be  a  lona-Jide  purchaser, 
and  arc  not  indulging  in  a  simple  "  look- 
see."     A   Canton   shopkeeper   does  other- 


SIGHTS   IX   CANTON.  109 

Avise :  you  may  look  through  his  establish- 
ment and  take  up  an  hour  or  two  of  his 
time;  and,  whether  you  purchase  much,  lit- 
tle, or  nothing,  he  never  forgets  his  polite- 
ness, and  bows  you  away  at  your  departure 
with  an  intimation  on  his  countenance  that 
your  visit  has  given  him  the  greatest  possi- 
ble pleasure,  and  he  regrets  its  hasty  ter- 
mination. Canton  beggars  and  the  Canton 
jDOor  in  general  seem  less  unhappy  than 
their  brethren  of  the  j^oiih,  and  even  the 
pigs  and  the  dogs  are  in  better  condition, 
and  do  not  appear  to  consider  life  as  one 
of  the  vanities. 

Some  miles  before  we  reach  Canton,  as 
we  ascend  the  Pearl  River  from  Hong-Kong, 
we  see  the  walls  of  the  city  straggling  over 
the  hills,  and  rest  our  eyes  upon  tall  pago- 
das which  rise  like  watch-tovrers.  Some- 
how a  pagoda  seems  well  adapted  to  the 
Chinese  landscape — it  fits  into  place  exact- 
ly; but  you  cannot  help  thinking  how  in- 
congruous it  would  appear  in  Europe  or 
America.   One  of  the  prettiest  in  this  region 


110  JOHN. 

is  the  pagoda  of  Whampoa,  about  ten  miles 
below  Canton ;  it  is  moss  and  bush  grown 
and  ivy-twined,  and  altogether  has  an  air 
of  antiquity  that  inclines  you  to  remove 
your  hat  as  you  pass.  A  famous  edifice  in 
Canton  is  the  five -storied  pagoda  which 
stands  on  a  hill  overlooking  the  city  on 
one  side,  and  a  long  stretch  of  cemeteries 
and  gardens  on  the  other.  As  a  work  of 
architecture  this  pagoda  is  a  lamentable 
failure,  as  it  is  little  else  than  a  huge  build- 
ing five  stories  in  height,  and  possessing 
broad  balconies  at  each  story.  The  eleva- 
tion and  the  view  from  the  upj^er  balcony 
make  the  attraction,  and  certainly  the  pict- 
ure is  a  charming  one.  The  great  city 
with  its  million  inhabitants  lies  at  your 
feet,  and  you  look  down  upon  acres  and 
acres  of  houses  with  tiled  roofs  and  pro- 
jecting caves,  and  hear  the  hum  of  myriad 
voices  borne  on  the  air  like  the  sigh  of  the 
breeze  through  the  forest.  The  streets  are 
so  narrow  that  you  can  hardly  see  them  at 
all,  and  you  might  almost  think  that  the 


SIGHTS   IN   CA^^TON.  Ill 

area  below  you  was  one  vast  j)avement  of 
earthen  tiles.  We  see  pagodas  and  temples 
rising  like  islands  from  the  waters  of  a  lake, 
but  more  numerous  than  these  are  tall  build- 
ings of  brick  and  stone  towering  high  above 
their  neighbors,  and  recalling  to  mind  the 
grain-elevators  of  Buffalo  and  Chicago,  or 
the  huge  warehouses  that  line  the  banks  of 
the  harbor  of  New  York. 

"  What  are  those  tall  buildings  ?"  we  ask ; 
and  though  we  know  we  are  in  a  land  of 
surprises,  and  are  prepared  to  hear  every- 
thing with  complacency,  we  cannot  avoid 
a  slight  elevation  of  the  eyebrows  at  the 
answer  to  our  queiy.  "  Those  tall  build- 
ings are  j^awnbroking  shops,"  our  guide  ex- 
plains. "  In  the  upper  story  gold  and  jew- 
elry and  other  costly  things  are  stored ;  on 
the  next  floor  are  silks  and  furs ;  and  the 
farther  down  you  go,  the  cheaper  are  the 
articles  stored  there.  The  buildings  are 
made  high  so  that  thieves  cannot  get  into 
them." 

The  number  and  size  of  these  establish- 


112  JOHN. 

ments  indicate  an  enormous  business,  and 
we  are  quite  prepared  for  the  statement 
that  the  Chinese  are  liberal  patrons  of  the 
house  of  the  three  balls.  In  winter  a  Chi- 
nese keeps  his  summer  clothes  in  pawn,  and 
in  summer  he  thus  disposes  of  his  winter 
garments.  How  he  manages  the  mauvais 
quart  cVJieure  of  the  change  of  wardrobe,  I 
am  unable  to  say,  but  it  may  be  that  an  ar- 
ray of  dressing-rooms  in  the  shop  would 
solve  the  mystery.  I  went  through  one  of 
these  shops,  and  ujd  to  its  roof:  thousands 
uiDon  thousands  of  parcels  and  packages 
were  stowed  away  on  the  various  floors,  all 
ticketed  and  labelled  in  such  a  way  that 
any  desired  package  could  be  readily  found. 
The  pawnbrokers  may  charge  three  per 
cent,  a  month  on  short  loans,  and  two  per 
cent,  on  long  ones,  and  altogether  they  do 
not  appear  to  drive  a  losing  business.  They 
are  as  keen  as  their  kindred  of  Chatham 
Street  or  the  Bowery.  China  is  the  oldest 
nation  of  the  world,  and  claims  an  origin 
in  the  mythological  epoch,  but  in  all  her 


SIGHTS   IN   CANTON.  113 

history  there  is  no  record  of  a  pawnbroker 
lending  more  than  its  vakie  upon  any  arti- 
cle offered  to  him. 

The  genius  who  praised  the  providence 
which  ordained  that  great  rivers  should  run 
past  large  cities  would  be  delighted  with 
the  situation  of  Canton.  The  Pearl  River 
is  a  fine  stream,  and  its  numerous  branches 
and  tributaries  render  a  large  area  of  coun- 
try accessible  by  boats.  The  largest  ocean 
vessels  must  anchor  at  Whampoa,  but  ships 
and  steamers  of  medium  size  may  ascend  to 
the  city  and  anchor  in  front  of  it. 

"We  arrive  by  a  steamer  from  Hong-Kong, 
and  as  we  approach  the  wharf  it  seems  al- 
most a  miracle  that  we  do  not  sink  a  dozen 
or  more  of  the  boats  that  are  thickly  dotted 
upon  the  water.  We  think  all  the  boats  of 
Canton  must  be  out  for  an  airing,  but  as  we 
look  along  either  bank  we  see  rows  upon 
rows  of  boats  of  many  kinds  lying  there  ; 
and  if  we  go  around  the  bend  and  down 
any  of  the  creeks  and  canals,  we  find  more 
boats,  and  more,  and  more.  Then  we  re- 
8 


114  JOHN. 

member  the  famous  boat  population  of  Can- 
ton, and  that  whole  flmiilies  live,  j-ear  in 
and  year  out,  upon  the  river.  As  we  look 
into  the  boats  we  find  the  statement  veri- 
fied, as  at  least  half  of  the  rowers  are  wom- 
en, and  we  see  children  of  all  ages  l^'ing  or 
crawling  about  the  decks,  or  in  little  pit- 
holes  at  the  stern.  The  smaller  children 
are  tended  by  the  larger  ones ;  and  if  there 
are  none  of  the  latter,  the  little  ones  are  se- 
cured by  a  cord,  whose  other  end  is  attached 
to  the  boat  or  to  a  small  log.  If  the  urchin 
falls  overboard,  he  swims  as  naturally  as  a 
puppy;  but  I  was  told  that  these  babies, 
left  to  themselves,  rarely  tumble  from  the 
deck  or  meet  other  mishaps.  They  seem 
to  understand  that  they  can  receive  no  at- 
tention, and  therefore  do  not  expect  or  de- 
mand it.  A  boat  approaches,  rowed  by 
two  women,  each  of  whom  lias  a  child 
strapped  to  her  back.  This  is  the  usual 
mode  of  carrying  infants  in  China  and  Ja- 
pan, and  the  babies  seem  to  take  to  it  very 
kindly. 


SIGHTS   IN   CANTON.  115 

The  number  of  the  boat  population  of 
Canton  is  stated  at  sixty  thousand,  and  I 
should  think  the  figure  an  under  rather 
than  an  over  estimate.  These  j)eoi3le  are 
born  on  the  boats,  and  they  live  and  die 
there,  and,  so  far  as  I  could  see,  they  were 
as  happy  and  careless  as  any  others  of  the 
Cantonese.  The  captain  of  the  steamer 
secured  us  a  boat  belonging  to  a  woman 
known  as  "xVmerican  Susan,"  and  we  en- 
gaged it  for  the  time  of  our  stay  in  Canton 
at  fifty  cents  a  day.  Susan  was  a  bright 
and  not  overhandsome  woman,  about  four 
feet  high,  and  carried  a  nose  so  retrousse 
that  it  threatened  to  pierce  the  base  of  her 
forehead.  She  was  captain,  and  had  a  crew 
consisting  of  her  sister,  a  hired  woman,  and 
a  hired  man.  She  spoke  English  fairly,  and 
admitted  the  possession  of  a  husband,  who 
"hab  got  pigeon"  (had  business)  in  Canton. 
The  men  of  the  boat  population  go  to  serve 
as  sailors  in  junks  or  on  foreign  ships,  and 
many  of  them  have  migrated  to  America 
and  other  lands. 


116  JOHN. 

The  only  hotel  at  Canton  is  on  the  island 
of  Ho-nan,  directly  o23posite  the  city,  not 
fav  from  a  lamous  Buddhist  monastery.  We 
make  a  visit  to  this  establishment,  and  find 
an  enclosure  of  temples  and  gardens,  ap- 
proached by  a  massive  gateway,  which  re- 
minds us  of  the  pylon  of  an  Egyptian  tem- 
ple. The  monks  are  at  their  evening  meal, 
which  consists  of  rice  and  fish  for  the  first 
course,  fish  and  rice  for  the  second  course, 
and  bowls  of  rice  wdth  bowls  of  fish  for  the 
third  course.  They  appear  to  live  well ;  and 
as  there  are  four  hundred  of  them,  the  tem- 
ple must  be  well  endowed,  or  the  visitors 
very  liberal.  In  one  enclosure  are  the  sacred 
pigs,  very  lat  and  very  lazj^,  but  not  exhal- 
ing an  odor  of  sanctity.  Close  by  is  an  en- 
closure of  sacred  ducks,  chickens,  and  doves, 
but  I  could  not  see  that  they  were  unlike 
the  profane  birds  of  simihir  species  in  other 
lands.  The  monks  believe  in  cremation, 
and  we  are  shown  the  ovens  where  the  re- 
mains of  the  good  men  are  reduced  to  ash- 
es.   Nobody  was  undergoing  calcination  at 


SIGHTS   IN   CANTON.  117 

the  time,  and  we  contented  ourselves  with 
the  cold  ovens,  and  the  rows  of  jars  con- 
taining the  ashes,  which  had  been  careful- 
ly gathered  and  labelled  like  so  many  pots 
of  preserves. 

For  our  visit  to  the  city  we  engaged  se- 
dan-chairs and  a  guide,  and  thus  thread  the 
narrow  and  tortuous  ways  for  which  Can- 
ton is  famous.  The  streets  are  from  four  to 
ten  feet  in  width,  and  the  best  of  them 
rarely  have  a  breadth  beyond  eight  feet. 
Wheeled  vehicles  are  out  of  the  question, 
and  so  all  merchandise  is-  carried  by  coolies, 
and  all  people  who  move  otherwise  than  by 
pedestrianism.  Our  bearers  walk  rapidly, 
and  it  is  a  wonder  that  no  accidents  oc- 
cur, as  the  streets  are  full  of  people,  and  not 
infrequently  we  meet  other  sedans,  and  are 
obliged  to  hug  the  wall  closely  to  pass 
without  accident.  Over  our  heads  are  hun- 
dreds of  peq^endicular  signs,  on  which  the 
shopkeepers  inscribe,  not  only  their  names, 
but  certain  mottoes  or  phrases  by  which 
their  establishments  are  known.     One  is 


118  JOIIK. 

"Flowery  Happiness,"  another  "Ten  Thou- 
sand Pleasures,"  another  "  Content  and 
Gratitude,"  while  a  fourth  bears  the  legend 
"  Hope  is  perennial,  and  promises  Paradise." 
Considerable  taste  is  shown  in  the  painting 
of  the  signs,  and  the  view  of  a  Cantonese 
street  is  a  novel,  pleasing,  and  picturesque 
sight.  The  shop  fronts  are  all  open,  and 
the  merchants  sit  in  calm  contemplation, 
confident  that  fortune  will  send  them  cus- 
tomers whom  they  will  handle  to  advan- 
tage. 

In  the  shops  we  find  a  temi3ting  array  of 
what  are  known  to  commerce  as  Canton 
goods.  Crape  and  silks  are  in  bewildering 
profusion,  and  of  a  cheapness  that  makes 
us  wish  to  purchase  the  entire  lot.  Shelves 
upon  shelves  are  covered  with  lacquer  boxes 
and  other  ware,  and  again  we  are  tempted 
and  turn  away  sorrowfully.  Ivory  and  san- 
dal-wood carvings  arc  abundant,  and  it  is 
surprising  to  see  what  shapes  the  tusk  of 
the  elephant  or  walrus  can  be  made  to  take 
in  the  hands  of  the  Chinese  carver.    Most  of 


SIGHTS   IN   CANTON.  119 

US  have  seen  ivory  balls  one  within  anoth- 
er, and  have  Avondered  how  the  work  was 
done.  There  is  no  mystery  about  it,  and  we 
see  the  balls  in  the  hands  of  the  carvers  in 
nearly  every  shop  we  visit.  Holes  are  first 
bored  to  the  centre  of  the  ball,  and  the  lat- 
eral cuttings  are  then  made  by  graduated 
bits,  wdiich  require  to  be  held  carefully  in 
place.  After  the  innermost  ball  is  separ- 
ated from  the  rest  of  the  ivory,  it  is  turned 
at  will,  and  the  design  w^rought  upon  it, 
and  then  the  next  one  is  taken,  and  after  it 
the  next.  Card-cases,  fans,  and  other  things 
are  cut  with  sharjD  tools.  Sometimes  the 
workman  follows  a  design  drawn  upon  the 
ivory,  and  at  others  he  works  entirely  by 
the  eye.  The  carvings  on  sandal-wood  are 
made  after  the  same  manner  as  those  upon 
ivory;  but  as  the  material  is  softer,  the 
work  is  performed  with  greater  rapidity. 

We  can  spend  a  great  deal  of  time  in 
the  shops,  and  find  something  new  and  in- 
teresting at  every  step.  The  dealers  arc 
never  weary  of  exhibiting  their  wares,  as 


120  JOHN. 

tliey  have  learned  by  long  experience  that 
the  best  way  to  tempt  customers  is  by 
showing  their  work  and  allowing  the  full- 
est opportunity  of  examining  it.  Porcelain 
shops  are  numerous,  and  there  is  an  enor- 
mous quantity  of  vases  and  other  articles 
in  each  establishment,  a  large  portion  be- 
ing specially  designed  for  foreign  tastes. 
The  porcelain  shops  are  generally  of  two 
stories,  and  the  best  goods  are  kept  on  the 
upper  floor,  where  a  customer  must  go  to 
see  them.  In  Canton  one  finds  that  nearly 
every  street  has  its  specialty,  one  being  de- 
voted to  silk-shops,  another  to  ivor}'-work- 
ers,and  another  to  lacquer-ware  or  cases  of 
camphor-wood.  In  this  respect  the  resem- 
blance to  Damascus  and  Cairo  is  greater 
than  in  any  other  city  of  China. 

We  visit  several  temples,  but  none  have 
any  special  attractions.  AVe  enter  a  man- 
darin's court,  where  a  poor  wretch  led  with 
a  chain,  as  one  might  lead  a  dog,  is  brought 
up  for  sentence.  As  he  crouches  before  the 
judge  he  is  awarded  twenty  blows  with  tlie 


SIGHTS   IN   CANTOX.  121 

bamboo,  and  tliey  are  then  and  there 
administered.  Instruments  of  torture  are 
piled  at  the  door  of  the  court-room,  and  a 
very  brief  inspection  convinces  us  that  in 
China  the  way  of  the  transgressor  is  hard 
indeed.  But  it  is  wliispered  that  justice  is 
tempered  with  mercy  when  the  culprit  or 
his  friends  can  pay  for  the  latter  in  its  un- 
strained form ;  and,  meditating  on  the  dif- 
ference between  Chinese  customs  and  our 
own,  we  will  return  to  our  hotel. 


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Nephew,  G.  Otto  Tretelyan,  M.P.  With  Por- 
trait. 2  vols.,  8vo,  Cloth,  uncut  ed;^es  and  gilt 
tops,  So  00;  Sheep,  86  00;  Half  Calf,  89  50. 
Popular  Edition,  1  vol.,  12mo,  Cloth,  §1  75. 


The  biography  is  in  every  respect  worthy  of  the 
subject.  Mr.  Trevelyau  has  executed  his  task  with 
most  praiseworthy  modesty  and  good  taste,  and  with 
great  literary  sliill.  *  *  *Macaulay's  Life  forms  a  most 
interesting  booli,  living  as  he  did  in  the  thick  of  the 
literary  aiid  political  activity  of  his  time.  It  afl'ords 
us  many  fresh  pictures  of  incidents  in  which  he  played 
a  part,  and  amusing  and  instructive  anecdotes  of  the 
celebrities  with  whom  he  came  in  contact,  and,  above 
all,  it  throws  a  great  deal  of  unexpected  light  on  his 
own  personal  character.  *  *  *  Nothing  could  surpass 
the  charm  of  those  portions  of  the  biography  in  which 
Mr.  Trevelyan  pictures  Macaulay  at  home,  from  the 
time  when,  already  a  man  in  learning,  he  romanced 
with  his  playmates  on  Ckipham  Common,  to  the  time 
when,  still  a  boy  in  animal  spirits,  he  wrote  to  his  sis- 
ters, from  the  smoking-room  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, exuberantly  lively  and  brilliant  descriptions  of 
the  great  Reform  debates,  or  spent  evenings  with  them 
in  Great  Ormond  Street,  punning,  reciting,  and  cap- 
])ing  verses,  in  the  intervals  between  his  astonishing 
the  House  with  displays  of  oratory  which  excelled 
every  thing  heard  "since  Plunket;"  or,  later  still, 
when,  in  the  intervals  of  composing  his  history,  he 
took  his  nephews  and  nieces  with  him  on  holiday 
tours,  aud  kept  them  in  tits  of  laughter  with  puns, 
rhymes,  and  tales,  from  one  end  of  a  railway  journey 
to  the  other.— Examiner,  London. 


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MACAULAY'S 

History  of  England. 

The  History  of  England  from  the  Accession  of 
James  II.  By  Lord  Macaulay.  In  Five  Vol- 
umes.    With  elaborate  Index. 

Library  Edition:  5  vols.,  8vo,  Cloth,  $10  00; 

Sheep,  $12  50;  Half  Calf,  $21  25. 
Popular  Edition:  5  vols.,  12mo,  Cloth,  $4  00; 

Sheep,  $6  00;  Half  Calf,  $12  VS. 
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The  volumes  are  sold  separately. 

With  the  rest  of  the  world  we  come  with  our  hom- 
age to  Macaulay.  There  is  uo  occasiou  for  us  to  quote 
from  Macaulay,  to  criticise,  or  to  praise  him.  Oiu* 
readers  loujj  a>40  have  made  their  own  quotations, 
selected  their  favorite  passages,  have  read  agaiu  aud 
again  every  page  of  his  history ;  and  the  universal 
approbation  of  the  world  has  at  once  dispensed  with 
the  necessity  of  panegyric,  and  made  censure  impos- 
eible,  except  to  those  who  are  ambitious  of  a  foolish 
singularity.  On  whatever  side  we  look  at  this  book, 
whether  the  style  of  it  or  the  matter  of  it,  it  is  alike 
astonishing.  The  style  is  faultlessly  luminous;  every 
word  is  ill  its  right  place ;  every  sentence  is  exqui- 
sitely balanced;  the  current  never  flags.  Homer,  ac- 
cording to  the  Roman  poet,  may  be  sometimes  lan- 
guid; Macaulay  is  always  bright,  sparkling,  attract- 
ive.— Westminster  Reviciv. 


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HILDRETH'S 

UNITED  STATES. 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 
OF  AMERICA.  First  Series. —^vom  the 
First  Settlement  of  the  Country  to  the  Adoption 
of  the  Federal  Constitution.  Second  Series. — 
From  the  Adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution 
to  the  End  of  the  Sixteenth  Congress.  By 
Richard  Hildbeth.  Six  vols.,  8vo,  Cloth, 
$18  00;  Sheep,  $2100;  Half  Calf,  $31  50. 


It  exhibits  characteristics  both  of  design  and  of 
composition  which  entitle  it  to  a  distlugais^hed  place 
araoug  the  most  important  productions  of  American 
genius  and  scholarship.  We  welcome  it  as  a  simple, 
faithful,  lucid,  and  elegant  narrative  of  the  great  events 
of  American  historj'.  It  is  not  written  in  illustration 
of  any  favorite  theory,  it  is  not  the  expression  of  any 
ideal  system,  but  an  honest  endeavor  to  present  the 
facts  in  question  in  the  pure,  uncolored  light  of  truth 
and  reality.  The  impartiality,  good  judgment,  pene- 
tration, and  diligent  research  of  the  author  are  con- 
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Published  by  HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  New  York, 


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JOHNSONIANA. 


BOSWELL'S  JOHNSON.    The  Life  of  Samuel  John- 

son,  LL.D.  Including  a  Journal  of  a  Tour  to  the  Hebrides.  By 
James  BOSWELL,  Esq.  Portrait  of  Boswell.  2  vols.,  8vo,  Cloth, 
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JOHNSON'S   WORKS.      The    Complete   Works    of 

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by  AUTHUR  MUKPUY,  Esq.  2  ^ols.,  8vo,  Cloth,  $4  00;  Sheep, 
$5  00;  Half  Calf,  $8  00. 

SKETCH   OF  JOHNSON.     Samuel  Johuson.     By 

LESLIE  Stepuex.    19mo,  Cloth,  75  cents. 

JOHNSON'S  LIFE  AND  WRITINGS.  Selected  and 
Arranged  by  the  Rev.  William  P.  Page.  2  vols.,  18mo, 
Cloth,  $1  60. 

MACAULAY'S  JOHNSON.    Samuel  Johnsou,  LL.D. 

By  Lord  MACAULAY.    32mo,  Paper,  25  cents. 

JOHNSON'S    RELIGIOUS    LIFE.      The    Religious 

Life  and  Death  of  Dr.  Johnson.    12mo,  Cloth,  gl  50. 

SAMUEL   JOHNSON:    Ilis  Words  aiul  his  Ways; 

What  he  Said,  What  he  Did,  and  What  Mon  Thought  and 
Spoke  Concerning  Him.    Edited  by  E.  T.  Mason.    12ino,  Cloth, 

fcl  00. 


PuBT.isuED  BY  HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  New  Yoiik. 

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